Life
by babygumm07
Summary: Life After Shiz. When they finally graduate and must come to terms with those things that cannot be reasoned out in an essay. Continuation of "Anticipations". Fiyeraba.
1. The Epistles of Oz

_**Author's Note: **This story is a continuation of "Anticipations", a Fiyeraba fic I have just finished. Please read that one first if you have not and hello again! if you have! It would help, there will be a lot of references to things that happened in the previous story!_

_This chapter is epistolary, in the form of correspondance and every letter/note is important so read them all!_

_Enjoy! xx_

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><p>Dearest Elphaba,<p>

I cannot express to you how excited I am to attend Shiz University. I had always hoped to have such an education and now that Father has allowed that wish to be fulfilled I am more than ready to focus on gratefully assuming the role of a student with you. I hear you are performing exceptionally from Nanny (as Father is not one to boast, I am sure you are aware) and I am so proud to be following in your footsteps.

I have been a little worried about making friends, but I was reminded by Father that simply remaining true to myself will ensure I form acquaintances with only the very best people. I know you have made very good friends Elphaba, and I am so glad (truth be told I was concerned that you would throw away your reputation just to experiment with dangerous people, but thankfully you have not. It is the work of the Unnamed God, no?).

I digress, I merely wished to accompany Father's letter about my impending arrival with my own words. I love you, my dearest sister, and I shall see you and the towering heights of Shiz University very soon.

Sincerely,

Nessarose Thropp, Fourth Thropp Descending.

Colwen Grounds

Munchkinland.

* * *

><p>Evard,<p>

I'm not for discussing your crass hints towards my relationship with Elphaba, knowing her temper she would kill us both before I could put pen to paper. Watch out for her silhouette on your horizon. I will tell you that we are very happy. I love her. There, and that's an end to it!

I want to explain the reason for such a prompt response: I know usually I am leaving you with months between letters that are quite unnecessary. Now I write with a very firm purpose in mind and I have to intention of setting it aside or leaving it to wither and die from ever coming to fruition (Elphaba's words). I know this winter you are returning to travel with the tribes for their journeys across the mountainlands and deserts, and since hopefully my career after Shiz will centre around performing diplomatic duties etc for The Wizard and yourself, I am asking to join you. Don't rush to groan, I thrashed you at hunting last season and I can do it again. I trust you know I'll be a worthy addition.

If I'm honest, this was not my idea, but Elphaba's. She was told firmly in her father's last and quite honestely fairly abrupt letter that she was to spend Lurlinemas with her own family. I hasten to add he was not very pleased about her staying with us last year, and now is determined to hear all about Nessarose's first semester. Well, I'll be damned if he makes her do that every year. Anyway, since we're not to be together, I don't look forward to being alone in the house. Occupy me, please.

Fiyero

Shiz University

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><p>My Dear Galinda,<p>

Open your eyes, sweetheart. You live in the manicured pastures of the Upper Uplands as you so carefully and regularly remind us. Your hillocks and woods are so verdant that you may be in more danger of losing me were I with you than you with such a distance between us. Darling Galinda, what has happened to those parties at which you are such a featured player? Learn to appreciate what you have and stop yearning for what is out of reach, and then may you be happy.

I do love you, dearest. I miss you. Though I would never word this in a letter to Fiyero, I suppose I trust that you keep my heartache to yourself (that is a warning Galinda). I miss him terribly. I've drawn scribbled sketches on the wood of a tree and written him a thousand kisses in my head. Do I jest? You decide.

My only consolation is that he and yourself, Glinny-dinny, are thoroughly occupied with whatever business you like to carry out at home. So do not write me of being bored when you both have so many people throwing themselves at you to join their games and drinks. But behave, my good girl, and do not do anything that would make me frown at you. Myself, this is my first half hour I have had alone all week: I am just so well looked after (I do housework, I care for Nessa, you know my role and my enjoyment of it). I shall write Fiyero something kinder now.

My heart and head are full.

Yours, Elphaba.

* * *

><p>Fiyero,<p>

I have packed the ring in with your things. You may do with it what you will, but keep it safe and only trust it into the possession of another whom you can guarantee will guard it with her heart.

Minas.

NB Give Elphaba our love.

* * *

><p>Dearest, Most Beloved Mother and Father,<p>

Well, what a month it has been! This last week was especially thrillifying and you can tell that to our nasty Aunt Suava!

You will be pleased to hear about my success in my continued efforts towards the improvement of Elphaba's wardrobe. I did tell you how she dresses quite carelessly? She was quite impossible on the subject before but since I have helped so well with her social life (she now has many people smiling at her - how wonderful!), she has been more amiable whenever I suggest small alterations to her closet. Stupidly, she often worries that I will dress her ridiculously inappropriate colours! I mean, really! It is as if she does not know me at all (which is nonsense, of course, oftentimes she may as well be reading my mind)!

Now I know what you are going to say! "Miss Galinda, you must make allowances for the feelings of others!" I know this, and I certainly know Elphaba's issues with her self-esteem: she has had such a terrible time, but now that I am her best friend I am here only to help and in doing so, I aim to make her more comfortable with the idea of beauty. Her own beauty. She really is very beautiful!

Fiyero Tiggular - you remember the boy I dated a few times last year? The Vinkus Prince! - is my sworn ally in my venture to make her wear more flattering lines and cuts. That reminds me! I must appeal to you for the address or telephone number or something of that nature of Mme. Vassilee's designs. She is still in business, is she not? I assume so, she was so very talented! Fiyero does not want me to put in writing why I need such assistance from you as he says "I do not put it beyond Elphaba to go reading your letters!". How funny! I mentioned she can almost read my mind and I am so terrible at keeping secrets! Hello, Elphaba, if you are reading this! Oh no, avert your eyes!

Dearest Mother and Father, we have been written to personally from the Wizard of Oz several times asking after our health and our progress in Second Year! How wonderful! He is very attentive to details concerning our interests of study and how we spend our spare time. Elphaba seems to be enjoying what such attention implies for her career and mine (and Fiyero's of course, you know he receives letters, too!) but she told me she feels spied on by his constant appeals for attention. She has said something to him in one of her replies I am sure of it! I would worry about his angered response to such words from a student, but he seems so very enraptured by our Elphie's talents that I think he may just do as he is told! Imagine that!

Mother, I am pleased to hear that the Opera Guild seem to be courting you so amiably! I hope we shall be receiving complimentary invitations and tickets very soon! You know yourself how very much of an asset you already are to many of the best organisations. Do inform them of your daughter working for the Wizard! I trust you not to sound boastful, though you do it so elegantly!

Papa, thank you for your packages sent to me! I am eternally grateful. Kisses! And I do not like to hear of you slacking off your exercises! Take the dogs for a walk - for me!

I shall love you always, and now Elphie calls me to dinner!

Yours,

Galinda

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><p>Frexspar Thropp, Governor of Munchkinland,<p>

I write to you, Gorvernor Thropp, for happy reasons. I am aware you know of the continued relationship between my son, Prince Fiyero and your eldest daughter, Miss Elphaba Thropp. We have met the young lady on several occasions and are extremly happy to know her. My wife, Queen Nanda and myself look forward to meeting your kind self in the future.

To that end, as we believe it would be very cruel to separate the young lovers over the summer period, I ama extending an invitation to both the Misses Thropp for the duration of their holiday from Shiz University. I understand from Miss Nessarose that you intend to travel for ministerial purposes for the next four months and it would be inconveniant and odd to have the girls either with you or at home alone when there so many people wishing for their company here.

Of course we offer you a suite in our home should you decide to cut your trip short or cancel it altogether. I hope to hear from you very soon, and in the positive.

Sincerely,

King Minas of the Vinkus

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><p>SECOND YEAR EXAM RESULTS BOARD - SHIZ UNIVERSITY<p>

ELPHABA THROPP - LIFE SCIENCES 100 (A) SORCERY 99 (A) HISTORY 100 (A)

GALINDA UPLAND - SORCERY 92 (A) HISTORY 87 (A) HISTORY OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE 89 (A)

FIYERO TIGGULAR - HISTORY 81 (A) POLITICS 90 (A) PHILOSOPHY 95 (A)

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><p>Fae I can't concentrate with you looking so beautiful over there. I know I just got up to give this to you, but won't you come over here, away from the window where people can see you and sit with me? Surely the Vinkun library ain't so interesting that you don't want a kiss from me.<p>

Also, you frown when you read and I love it.

Fiyero, from acorss the room.

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><p>Yero, your library is almost on a level with those at Shiz, except more interesting because it is the personal collection of a thousand-year dynasty. I love it. Of course, not as much as I love you. This book I am skimming through cannot give me a kiss, so yes, I will come over and let you kiss me. I may even enjoy it.<p>

Fae, from your lap.

NB. Next time, don't waste pen and ink.

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><p>SHIZ UNIVERSITY - HONOURS YEAR COURSES<p>

ELPHABA THROPP - SORCERY

- LIFE SCIENCES

GALINDA UPLAND - SORCERY

FIYERO TIGGULAR - POLITICS

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><p>Dear Nanda,<p>

I hope I haven't made you wait too long, though if this has taken more time than you expected it is the fault of the adiminstration at Shiz and not of my lack of communication (I assume you would have guessed this. I won't keep you in suspense: we are all accepted into the applied for classes and are very happy to be doing so. Fiyero is glad to be able to focus on one subject, though I hastened to add that it would not necessarily mean his workload would decrease. Galinda still frets over her missing 8 marks in Sorcery and so our tutors have prescribed her to work on calling her powers, and making that area of difficulty her dissertation study. I am allowed to continue with both Life Sciences and Sorcery. I fully intend on amalgamating them both for my dissertation, and have been allowed unprecedented access to the files of the Ministry for additional research into the attitudes towards Animals for Life Sciences and the History of Sorcery.

I am not afraid to tell you how ill at ease this freedom with such sensitive information makes me. I do not understand how the Wizard can trust us all so much, when he truly knows us so little. He may know when we were born, and what we were studying, but that does not give him the monopoly on our behaviour. I dislike a person, even Fiyero, thinking they know me so well. I know in myself that we would never abuse such trust. That is, unless I find something incriminating. I have promised Fiyero to think of you, however, before I let my temper run away with me. I will, Nanda, I promise.

Sincerely, Elphaba.

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><p>Dearest Elphie,<p>

Your letter waiting for me when I wrrived home was touching and worrying in equal measures. I won't shy away from telling you that it did worry me to see that you had contacted me so quickly after I had left, but I understand that there are some things more easily written in pen than said with your voice.

Please feel better soon, and let Fiyero coddle you. I know you hate the word, but if you'll permit me to say I do believe it is what both of you rneed after such a sudden wash of feelings. You don't sound particularly frightened or panicked, which is good. After all, it was only a suspicion, and you are always late every month in any case. Still, please tell me next time.

Maybe you won't agree with me, but it sounds as though Fiyero is acting like he wanted you to tell him you were pregnant. I wouldn't be surprised if he is upset now just because he is realising that he would have really wanted what he now knows is not going to happen yet. He loves you very much, Elphie, so try not to be too mad at him for this.

I don't think you will be, thought. You don't exactly sound over the moon about not being pregnant yourself. are you keeping something from me? Would you be happy to know you were going to have a baby? Picture it, Elphie.

Write me back, quickly please! I want to hear that everything is alright if it is so, and if it is not so, then why?

Yours,

Galinda

* * *

><p>Evard,<p>

I'm not gonna beat about the bush with this letter. You know I write to you for advice so I'm telling you now that Elphaba told me she thought she might be pregnant. I can barely write that, Evard. It makes my hands seize and shake and I'm not sure it's for a bad reason.

I thought she was, I really did. I went with her to the doctor, where she was examined and they took blood tests. But a few days later she was told "not to worry". Thing is, I guess I assumed she would be thrilled at this news because she looked so ashen beforehand. It's almost the opposite. She's quiet and relfective and I miss her sarcasm and her jibes at everything I do that might irritate her. Her behaviour made me think she would have liked to have had a baby.

I did think perhaps she had lied, and she was pregnant but didn't want to tell me, so when the doctor informed us that she wasn't then it meant she had miscarried. This was not true, I asked her. As you can imagine she was fairly angry and I even made her cry - something I hate and regret more than anything. She did understand eventually why I had thought something so extreme of her. No explanation from her, though.

Yesterday I saw her in a second hand bookshop and went in to surprise her. She was reading a baby name book. I didn't really know what to do, but I took the book and bought it for her. She told me then, that she really thought she would be happy to know it was nothing, too, and that she can't explain why now she feels sad. I said it was perhaps because she wanted to be pregnant. She didn't say anything, but she hasn't left my side since then. She's only gone to the loo now, so I decided to get this out to you.

Sincerely, Fiyero.

* * *

><p>Dad,<p>

I've had more than a few letters from Fiyero over the past few months, all of course about Elphaba. This is just to note to encourage you to do whatever is in your power to keep them together over the holidays. I know Miss Upland has invited them to her home in the Pertha Hills: perhaps it wouldn't be bad idea for him to be one of the party. Mam will need some convincing maybe, but just remind that by this time next year they may even be married, so it would be worth everyone's while not to separate them.

Sincerely, Evard.

* * *

><p>Dearest Galinda,<p>

I shall rebuke you, young lady, not to have so much fear in asking for things in future! Of course your friends may come with you for Lurlinemas! It has been far, far too long since we last had such a gathering! With you all doing so well this year in your studies and your future's so bright I can barely look at them for fear of being blinded! Your father and I agree that it would be a cruelty of the highest sort to separate Miss Elphaba and Prince Fiyero for the holiday, especially when there is such a simple solution!

Now, I must plan for all your guests, my dear! I would be very grateful if you would send me a full list of the company we shoudl expect, including any dietary requirements etc etc and any favourite dishes! Also, we shall not have our guests without gifts, so do allow me their home addresses so I might send couriers to fly them to our house.

I look forward to seeing you, my dearest girl!

Lots of Love and kisses!

Mother

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><p>FROM THE DESK OF OSCAR DIGGS<p>

Miss Elphaba Thropp, Miss Galinda Upland and Prince Fiyero Tiggular.

I write my congratulotions on your successful graduation from Shiz University and extend my heartfelt wishes that you will enjoy a summer break before returning once more to the Emerald City to discuss your future in our wonderful land.

I hope the gifts I sent were acceptable, especially to you, Elphaba. It is not often such intelligent young minds are discovered and I intend to shout about yours!

Oscar.

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><p><em>A lots has happened since we last saw them, yes.<em>


	2. A Fond Farewell

**_Author's Note: _**_A shorter chapter than usual, but I felt if I tried to make it any longer it would be padding and unnecessary. Thank you so much to **Yero and Fae** who reviewed the first chapter - you have no idea how much I appreciated it!_

_Enjoy! xx_

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><p>"What kind of congratulotions letter was that?" Fiyero grabbed the single sheet of printed paper from Elphaba's clawed fingers and stood in the light from the windows, smelling lemony and fresh and ready for their new tenant. "Not even a word of detail."<p>

"Perhaps he felt the letter needed to be smaller to balance out the fact that he spent Oz knows how much money on this trip you're insisting I take." She moaned, shoving her chair away and frowning as she had for the past two days.

Fiyero smiled and patted her head with the letter, illiciting a prod from her that could have bruised him. "Ah but Fae, he is Oz and he does know!"

"Smartarse." She snatched a kiss, the kind he liked the least because he never knew when they were coming and they never lasted long enough for him to enjoy them. "I know he knows. I know he is Oz. He knows everything!" Fiyero nodded, making her frustration grow. "Doesn't any of this bother you? Don't you feel like you're being spied on? I hate that. I've had that feeling my whole life. I just . . . I feel like he's trying too hard to be our friend and it creeps me out. He's not our friend, he's our Ruler. No matter how high up in the damned government we might be working, this will remain a professional relationship." She pointed to the letter, now discarded on the floor, easily blown about by their movements. "That is not professional."

"I know Fae: you've said." He picked up the letter and smoothed it out.

"See! You think so too: you're doing that because you hate the thought of someone reporting back to him that we didn't appreciate the letter!" She dared him to deny it.

"Alright fine, I'll leave it on the floor."

"No!" She said, catching it before it fluttered down. "Then he'll think we didn't like the less convoluted letter and start sending those damned fourteen-page ones again. Or worse he'll have some awful "I'm Sorry" surprise waiting at this house." She walked to his chair and stuffed it in her bag.

"You are so paranoid." He sighed, cupping her face and kissing her. She smiled, comforted.

"Yes, I am. Join me?"

"Never. You do it well enough for the both of us." She huffed and rested her head on his chest, swaying gently from side to side. He breathed in her scent and kissed her hair as the coconut fragrance wafted to his nose. She was using the shampoo he had bought her and he held her a little tighter, glad whenever he could have her so close. He never enjoyed when Oscar would send these reminders and gifts. At first it had been a relief because they felt almost as though the whole experience had been too good to really have happened. Elphaba even mentioned on their journey home that even if it was all just talk she would remember it as one of the greatest days of her life.

Then the letters and gifts began to pile up and eventually they discovered their parents had been informed of their regular contact with The Wizard of Oz. Not one of them liked that, and each had received responses of confusion from home as no one could understand why he might think it appropriate to do such a thing when the three of them were grown adults. Even Frexspar had commented that he considered his eldest an adult, and therefore perfectly capable of dealing with the situation herself.

That had been two years ago. Now, whenever a note or indeed a gift like Oscar's graduation present for Fiyero and Elphaba arrived, Elphaba's eyes darkened a little and her worry would surface. She felt like she was being watched and was growing to distrust Oscar, rather than be grateful towards him. And though she was happy to have done so well at University and overjoyed to be given such grand and purposeful opportunities, the thought of now returning to the Emerald City scared her a little, and she always took the chance to stop and appreciate that she had Galinda and Fiyero with her.

"You haven't finished packing, Yero." Elphaba whispered very softly, tilting her head back a little to look at him and hopefully drive her point home. "We have to leave soon."

Fiyero frowned. "Yes, we do, don't we?"

"What's the matter?" She asked, drawing her thumb over the lines on his forehead that had appeared.

"We really do have to leave." She smiled sadly, nodding. "I met you here."

She laughed at his sentimentalisation of his old room. "No you didn't. You didn't meet me here."

"Not literally." He responded, pulling her back into him and pointing at the bed they had so often used. "But I grew to know you here."

He was not being crude or dirty, she could see that he was upset at having to say goodbye, having attached so many happy memories to the place. "And this has only just dawned on you?" He shrugged. "Fiyero, you're not leaving me, I'm coming with you. We're going away together. You can get to know me on whatever bed you wish."

"Ah, I know that." He lifted her hands and made her dance as he dooh-daahed a make-believe waltz that was out of time and gave Elphaba giggles: Fiyero's favourite noise. "We're going away to a lakehouse. We're going to swim and cook and make love and talk all week and do nothing important for anyone else! Not such a bad gift I'd say."

Elphaba stopped and watched him dance himself in circles quite happily. She turned back to those few last belongings that would never be thrown away and yet never seemed to fit in with anything else. Fiyero had flown into a panic when she had originally suggested he get rid of them. "Alright, Fiyero!" She chuckled. "Please stop singing." He was silent and smiling mischievously at her. "You're forbidden from singing to our children. They'll tear out their ears just to block out the noise."

He jumped over to her, catching her off guard as she turned to stand up again from sweeping dust from the floor. "But you'll sing to them won't you, green girl?" Elphaba let him look at her, knowing they were both picturing their children, still nameless and faceless as of yet, but real nonetheless, before she nodded. She closed her eyes and their lips touched, Elphaba feeling (as she had recently, when they kissed in a certain way) that ghostly presence of a baby inside her and wrapping her arms like grips around his neck, almost willing the feeling to be real.

"Nanny, really! I have my own maid and therefore there is no need for this! OH!" Galinda exclaimed as the old biddy crashed a pile of netted petticoats to the floor. "My skirts! NANNY!"

"So I'm a hindrance, not a help am I?"

"Yes! Yes you are!" Galinda was almost screaming and Nanny took a half-step back. In the doorway, holding an empty reticule Galinda had asked for, Nessarose sat looking quite disturbed. "I have held my tongue, but this is too much! How can any girl be expected to function in these conditions? Nessrose, please take her somewhere else, please! I can manage quite well with the maid and you are . . . well you are just-"

"You're getting in the way Nanny." Came Elphaba's monotone voice, tinged with a hint of satisfaction at having arrived at the right moment to finish her friend's sentence. "Hello there, Nessie." She leaned down to kiss her sister's cheek and was happily received. Galinda stropped over, clambering through mess to Elphaba's side. The green girl almost laughed at the frizz and disarray of the bright blonde hair and the sweetness in the upturned smile. "Yes, Galinda, what is it? Do you need some help?"

"Oh no, no no!" Chimed Nanny. "She needs nobody's assistance, Miss Princess Perfect of the Pertha Paddocks."

"Nanny." Elphaba warned. "Go away. You're annoying practically everyone! Including us and we've only just arrived."

"We?" Galinda asked, not spying that a second person had entered with Elphaba.

"Hey there, Glinny-dinny." Fiyero said, casually. He kissed her cheek and tore a piece of cheesebread from the baguette in his hand. Elphaba took a piece for herself, too.

"You are not to use that name!" Galinda snatched the bread from him and magicked it into crumbs in the disposal.

"Hey!" He protested, looking to Elphaba to back him up, who only continued to chew innocently on her own sandwich. "Then give me a bit of yours." He said quickly, taking it from her hands before she could react and running around the room over unmade beds and cases and shoes. Galinda sighed, exasperated as the couple ended in a heap on the floor, Fiyero refusing to cease tickling her until she brought the bread back down from the air. Elphaba only made it hover tantalisingly just without his reach. Teasing him like a little mouse.

"You two are certainly not helping. The only person in here doing any good is Nessarose. Thank you, Nessie, for my reticule. You may be excused, but I do not know what I would do without you!" She said loudly, to interrupt her friends. Elphaba suddenly felt bad, let the bread drop and apologised. She shoved Nanny out the door on a stupid errand that would never be done and began to restock Galinda's skirts. "Thank you." Galinda offered reluctantly.

Elphaba shrugged and used her magic to shift five suitcases full of shoes. "Galinda, I don't think I saw you wearing all of these shoes in the past three years."

"Is that a challenge?" Galinda laughed, nudging her. Elphaba shook her head but let them see her smile. "Nessarose, you really needn't trouble yourself with that." The unfortunate girl was wrestling with a disagreeable case until Galinda picked it up and sat it on her lap. "You may go; we'll have you called before we leave."

"No, indeed! I want to help. Though I am sorry if I'm being a nuisance, in which case I would go. You were not lying before though, I think." Galinda affirmed that had not been lying and exchanged a happy look with Elphaba. "I am quite excited about starting my final year here. If it is half as good as the one Elphaba and you all have had, I shall count myself very lucky. What a blessing from the Unnamed God that would be!"

Elphaba's shoulders dropped at her last statement. She hated that her sister still clung to such beliefs when in many other areas she was a very reasoned young woman, intelligent enough to excel in her courses here and sociable enough to make good and fairly kind friends. Not to mention brave enough to take on more responsibility for her own care. It did comfort Elphaba that Nanny would stay at Shiz with Nessa, even though the old woman drove her up the wall with madness.

They began to overheat with the number of things to send off from the suite. Fiyero threw open the windows, letting the noises from the square below reach them inside and the cold air left over from their snowy winter circulate the room. Beads of sweat soon materialized and they were thankful to send off the last of the cases. Eventually, Nessa excused herself to call a carriage to take them to the station: there was no reason for such a thing as their telephone worked perfectly well, but the sadness was palpable and Nessa felt awkward and intrusive. Elphaba finally felt what Fiyero had been talking about in his room.

She looked around at the place where she had become like a sister to spoiled and bratty and still occasionally tactless and stupid Galinda Upland. Where she had come to see how very perceptive and good and wonderful Galinda really was. "I suppose I'll miss it here." Which was about all anyone would ever get from her that would come close to an admission of her feelings.

Galinda smiled. "Yes. I'll miss it, too. And I'll miss you, until we meet again in the Emerald City. Only what," she frowned, "two weeks?"

"One, Galinda. Just one week without us." Elphaba corrected her.

"Ah yes. Of course." Galinda sniffed and Fiyero was happy to see Elphaba step forward and embrace her friend. "I promise I'm not overreacting, Elphie."

"Course not." The green girl was heard to mumble, quietly as her volume was blocked by the cloth she had buried her face in.

"Well. Enough, don't you think?" Galinda declared, dabbing her eyes and nose with a pristine handkerchief and picking up her purse and travelling case. She sauntered out of the room much as she had sauntered in and Fiyero kissed away the tears that threatened to spill from Elphaba's eyes as they closed the door behind them for the final time.

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><p><em>Fiyeraba are going on a Summer Holiday! No more working for a week or two! Kisses from Fiyero for reviewers (or Elphaba, or Galinda)! x<em>


	3. Truth

_**Author's Note: **no claims on characters, places etc etc._

_Many apologies for not updating, but I am back at Uni so I'm trying to write this as often as I can! I'm really enjoying writing this though and I hope you are. Thanks so much for the reviews, they mean a lot! This chapter ends with a horrible and yet exciting revelation, which I'm sure you must have seen coming._

_Enjoy! xx  
><em>

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><p>Elphaba had fallen asleep in the carriage ride to the lakehouse. She periodically broke into her tirade against the holiday, against the wizard and Fiyero, who had at first listened and tried to reason her from anger, eventually gave up, allowed her to rant and let her exhaust herself. He found it more than endearing when she would lean on him for comfort and, in sleep, almost burrow into him like a child would. He liked to think he provided that kind of support that the independent Elphaba had found lacking from her inherent qualities.<p>

Watching her and Galinda say goodbye had been awful. Though it was not exactly a forever parting, that it was coupled with their exit from Shiz made it seem like that was exactly what it was. Galinda had, of course, been tearful. Her lips trembled and not a coherent word could be heard from her. Still, Elphaba seemed to understand and responded with flippant words, though her long embraces belied her tongue and Fiyero had held her from the moment they left, under Elphaba's repeated demands to do so "tighter".

Galinda would easily occupy herself; she was going home for the week to be pampered and loved by her long-missed family members before they all journeyed to the Emerald City. Her graduation gift from the Wizard was waiting there for her, and ever since her mother had written her a letter almost entirely full of exclamations upon its arrival in Gillikin, Galinda had been beside herself with excitement as to its possible identity.

So there was not much need for sadness, really. But Galinda had been adamant that their leaving Shiz was the end of an era, and ought to be marked. She decided that at the beginning of Autumn, when they would have commenced a new term, they would reunite with their school friends and celebrate the start of their future.

Neither Fiyero nor Elphaba knew much of their destination, but since it had been termed 'a lakehouse' the supposition was that it must be north, near Gillikin, since Munchkinland to the east and south offered no such water holes, and the Vinkus to the west was dry and hot during the summer. Both had only been to Gillikin for Lurlinemas just passed so it was preferable to either of their homelands. As they continued to drive, and dusk fell along with Fiyero's eyelids, he pulled Elphie closer and let himself drift off.

"You're here." They woke to the gruff, common accent of the driver as he shoved the side of carriage to shock them into consciousness.

Sleepily dragging their few cases inside, Fiyero left Elphaba yawning at the door and quickly set up a fire in every room. There were only two, thankfully, and he soon had them roaring with light and warmth.

"It's _so _beautiful." He heard Elphaba remark from the door. She walked into the bedroom and the soft yellow light on her skin gave it an odd, other-wordly glow, more so than usual. She had pulled out the braid in her hair (hardly ever used recently) and the curtain-like effect it had on her face cast shadows that gave her more than her usual dose of mystery.

"You look so gorgeous." He whispered, the words sort of falling from his mouth involuntarily, resulting in their being slurred and Elphaba giggling at the confusion on his face as he tried several times to say it correctly.

"You make me laugh." Elphie said, sitting on the pleasantly soft bed. The 'lakehouse' was more of a cabin, but it was breathtakingly still, quiet and isolated. The building was constructed from logs and wood and was like a small ranch. The larger room was comprised of a kitchen and a lounge area, with a small table by a bay window that looked over the lake. Water, however, surrounded them on most sides, so each window gazed into a glassy reflection of itself and made them feel cocooned. Elphaba loved it, and Fiyero loved it more, knowing how eased she was.

"Let's make dinner." He suggested, pulling her from where she had lain on the bed.

"What is there? We don't have any - oh, of course." She remarked when he opened the pantry to reveal the dried foods they might want, the flours, the pastas, the rice, potatoes and breads. The cupboards were equally filled.

Quickly, Fiyero enlisted her help in making a pie crust, to distract her from thinking about the Wizard's part in all this. "Roll it out."

"I know how to do this, Yero." She sighed, but he heard her amusement. "Surprised you can find the pantry, Prince Fiyero."

"You _love_ my title."

"I _love _you. I couldn't care less for your title." He leaned over and kissed her, spotting her cheek with flour when he tried to hold her face. Fiyero wondered if it was odd that he found it attractive when she didn't bother to wipe it away. He decided he didn't care. "And I don't much appreciate the role of 'princess', either." She jested, referring to her position in the family when they married.

"Princess Elphaba." He played it over in his mouth, as if in anticipation of the juicy cuts of meat they would soon be consuming. "I think you'd suit it." She scoffed. "And you don't have much choice, my love. Marry me, and it will be your role."

"It'll be my name, and that is an end of it. My role will be as . . . as whatever-it-is to the Wizard."

"I never meant you'd stay in the Vinkus."

She caught him as he walked past her with the flour and crumb-dusted baking pan ready to be cooked. Her face was knotted with concern and she stepped towards him, obviously irritated that their meal prevented closer positioning. "But you'll . . . you'll be with me, in the city, won't you?" He kissed her cheek and quickly threw the pie in the oven to cook, not wanting to answer her while it remained between them.

"Fae, of course I will. The Wizard has roped me in, too." He joked, making her smile a bit.

"I know that, I just though your father wanted you to take Militarily training in the Vinkus. Oscar mentioned he would like his men to be put through their paces there because it was more taxing and more rewarding. Though personally I think he'd have a hard time conscripting young men with the threat of the doing so."

"You think they'd be frightened of the Vinkus?" He asked, letting his arms fall on her back.

"Yes, I do. They're not much of an army, and most of them run away within the first week or so of enlisting. You know he has no terms of residence or a contract for them to sign and thereby enforce some sort of minimum stay? It's a sham. That, my dear, is what he intends you to fix. At first, at least, my hero."

Fiyero considered her words. "I certainly don't need to go with them. I've hunted and lived in the Vinkus since I was boy. Sure, it maybe is a good idea to instill a sense of responsibility in them and send them somewhere where running away would only unite them with certain death, but I can do that from your side. I can even write the draft contract while you lie in my arms, my love." He said, leaning down to kiss her. Her arms wrapped him tightly to her, and their movements led him to lift her onto the table, his hands finding occupation along her thighs. Elphaba's mind was growing hazy and lost, as it did when they made love.

Her legs tensed and she gripped his waist with them. They weren't rushed, or frenzied, and their passion was warm and slow, mimicking the fire. Fiyero slowly drew his hands over her stockings, lifting the seams at the top and rolling them down to touch the emerald skin beneath. She was hot.

"The pie, Yero." She breathed, smiling into his kisses, his tongue touching hers when she quieted. "It'll burn." She said, when he pointedly ignored her by slipping her skirt from her waist and letting it lie discarded on the floor.

"Alright." He said, when his own stomach rumbled enough to shake the table. Elphaba undid her shirt and left it on the floor, paired with the skirt. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"What?" She said with feigned-innocence, leaning on the counter in only her slip and raising an eyebrow at him. He looked genuinely pained, however, and she was reminded of how similarly they were both suffering from having to stop. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, please. The pan has to cool, and I think you look so . . ." His sentence drifted off, making her smile at his impatience to be near her again. They kissed, moved together more quickly than before. Elphaba wrapped her legs around his waist again, his hands gently teasing the seam of her slip on her stomach and lifting and dropping it again and again until she began to whimper.

The sound of her saying his name over and over was one of Fiyero's favourites, so he bent her over slightly, kissing the skin that was breaking out in a delicate sheen from the pounding of her heart, slipping off the last of her clothes and using his tongue more eloquently than in speech. She had descended from the counter top in an effort to be near him and he pulled her closer, too. She eagerly followed him to the couches and removed his clothes until they were skin-to-skin. By the time they came to eat their humbly-made pie, it had cooled beyond saving, but neither minded much. Each time they had finished, they would somehow end up starting again. Elphaba more than loved how he would so easily distract her, though she never told him so.

"It's not bad." Elphaba commented, chewing noisily on her first bite.

"Not bad? I should think it's damn well better than that."

She sighed. "It's not as good as mine."

"Well no, I mean, yours is always warm, isn't it?" She laughed and conceded to him. "More." She frowned. "You're tiny."

"I've put on weight since meeting you and your family." She pointed out, flicking pastry at him and patting her tummy. "See? I'm surprised you haven't noticed."

"Don't pretend you even care." She shrugged: she did not care, but she had noticed it, and liked it. It made her feel wanted, that they took such care to ensure she was well-fed. "I like seeing you healthy, though."

"Beg your pardon? When did I not look healthy?" She asked, quite deeply intrigued to know at what point he had thought she was in any way malnourished. "You never said anything like this before."

"I didn't think you looked _un_healthy. I just think now you look healthi_er_. Happier. Aren't you?"

"Don't be stupid, of course I am. And I am well aware that it is fully to do with my relationship with you and Galinda, I just hadn't realised it had been such an aesthetic change."

"You hadn't?" She shook her head, looking puzzled and thoughtful. He laughed and scuttled closer to her, placing her empty dish on the table and taking the hands that had held it. "I have. I notice it every day. You're very beautiful." He leaned forward and kissed her sweetly.

"Yero," she whispered, smiling, tracing her fingers lightly along his neck. "I _am _happier because of you. I hope you know that. You're more important to me than anything that could be given from the Wizard. Any title or job. I'd work in slums if I could only be with you."

"I'd never let you work in slums, though I don't suppose I could stop you if you decided to."

She shook her head. "No, you couldn't. But I'm tired, so maybe you could convince me not to right now, while we go to bed."

"Alright." He said, firmly, taking her hand, walking with her. He managed to enumerate seventeen reasons Why Elphaba Should Not Work In The Slums before they fell asleep wrapped warmly in each others arms.

"Package for you Miss." Croaked an over-eager postman the morning they arrived back in the Emerald City. Back to work, worry and wonder, as Elphaba saw it.

"Thanks." She replied, half-heartedly signing the paper and scrunching her eyes in an effort to smile politely, despite feeling embarrassed at having to answer the door in her nightgown and housecoat. She thought he returned the smile, and maybe he said "you're welcome", but she wasn't sure, so she closed the door as quietly as possible trying not to wake a soundly sleeping Fiyero upstairs.

Their townhouse in the wide and open spaces of the governmental suburbs boasted three fine floors, curving staircases made of marble and plush velvet curtains hanging over clean glass windows. It was breathtaking upon arrival, and the couple appreciated both their distance from the palace and their proximity to Galinda, whose house now kept both her and an adorable, coothy little pup she was yet to name (her present from The Wizard). They would be met with a carriage whenever they had to be transported to the inner-city and though it was offered for their personal use, the local amenities (pubs, parks and lakes, in the city, who knew?) provided enough entertainment to keep them wholly and completely occupied during their free time. Elphaba herself could not imagine she'd want to spend much time in the place where she would work for hours and hours.

Now that it was her home, she allowed herself a chance to relax and let go of her worries about missing the best sights and sounds; there was no longer much need to take it all in at once and record it to memory as soon as possible.

They each had a housekeeper and a cook, though Galinda also had a maid at her request (an unsurprising one), who saw to their meals and freed up the hours they may have spent cleaning. Elphaba would need to get used to this, but she knew the women that worked in the house had families, and she would not dismiss them from a post just to satisfy her pride.

She shuffled into the living room, still dim and cool because the drapes were shut, and sat with the paper-wrapped cube on her lap. Sighing, she worked at it, assuming it was something from the Wizard. Her heart fluttered a little at the possibility that it was a surprise, maybe from Fiyero. Maybe from home, that would be nice. Her groggy fingers worked at it until she could lift the flaps. The little light that was in the room showed the contents to be paper, letters. Lots of them. She frowned. It was something from the Wizard, but not at all what she predicted.

"What in Oz' name?"

_Dear Miss Thropp, or Elphaba, for we feel we know you now._

_You have no idea how much effort it has taken for us to get this to you in confidence that the contents will not reach the eyes of some over-eager Wizard lover, and so firstly we would like to extend our respects for your decision to be housed in a suburb and not the palace, otherwise this communication would be impossible._

_You don't have a clue who we are, but rest assured we know who you are. Don't be frightened, for you are entirely safe, which is something that cannot be said for many more persons in our land._

_You were a fine student, and curious and we know that you must not be completely trusting of Mister Oscar Diggs, or The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, though we are sure you know this former name by now. The letters we have sent you detail a cover up managed by Diggs. Some would call it horrific, we certainly do. _

_We will say no more, for we believe the evidence speaks for itself. We do concede that what Diggs is now attempting to implement (the laws for Animal protection etc) are good, but they do not erase what came before them in order to make his dreams possible. Or rather, your dreams. _

_You would do well to question his motives, Elphaba._

Her hands were shaking and her whole body tense as she read that it was signed by almost sixty different men and women, the first matching the cursive of the main body. It somewhat calmed her that there was no obvious attempt to disguise the handwriting, though if they thought it would be so difficult to get a letter to her without revealing themselves or their purpose surely it would have made sense to use a typewriter. She was far too intrigued now to do anything other than dive immediately in to read every other letter, missive, transcript and memo that made up the rest of the package.

Shock and anger welled up in equal measures in her heart as she made her way through. They were dated back three years, about the time she would have started at Shiz and detailed the systematic destruction of the Animal population at the order of Oscar Diggs, and then the sudden and unexpected retraction of all laws and the need to destroy whatever Animals still existed to tell their tale. As she reached the final letter, she cried.

"What . . ." She breathed, choking on the word and dropping the letter, unable to hold it.

"Elphaba?" She was confused as to what Fiyero was doing, and panicked when she felt a paper bag at her lips; the letters had brought her paranoia to the surface and confirmed her suspicions, though they had been undeveloped and minor. Fiyero told her to take deep, slow breaths and he rubbed her back, blowing cool air on her face and watching her like a Hawk. "You're fine, thank Oz. What happened? What are these?" He pulled one out from under him.

"Oh Oz, get up! Get up!" She screamed, smoothing out the ones he had inadvertently crushed. He apologised, but was unhurt. "I'm sorry, too. You . . . I'm fine. Well no, I'm not. I'm not fine." He whispered for her to tell him what was the matter, but it was a few long minutes before she could speak and she just handed him the box and watched him go through it. He perused it quickly, as she had, and saw the confusion dawn on him.

"I don't understand." He said plainly, turning to her.

"Neither do I. I thought I knew something was going on, and I thought from the first letter that whatever was in here would confirm my suspicions, but this is so far from what I ever thought was happening. The _Animals_ Fiyero; I can't believe it! I do believe it, I mean, but he's working so hard to push these new laws through . . . maybe we should have seen. He was _too_ eager. Like Galinda when she's trying to keep a secret from me."

"That's not what I don't understand, Fae." She stared, and felt his hand tracing little circles on her back. He was focused on her. "You're so calm. I thought something like this would send you flying out the window. Away from me or . . . underground or something."

"Underground?" She kissed his neck in a favourite place she usually reserved for when they were making love, a sign for him. "No, Yero. They seem to be frightened of making a noise out of this. I don't think it would be a good idea, maybe it would only make him panic more and rush to finish it all off."

"Maybe this is too simplistic, too."

"What do you mean?"

"You said there are two sides to every story, but that's not so. There are always so many more sides, especially with something like this."

"Something like this? You've come across . . . I don't know what to call it . . . genocide before?" Fiyero shook his head, but she grasped his point. "I know, but something as obviously speciesist and wrong as this has only two sides, Yero, and Oscar's on the wrong one. That's why I'm not - we're not going to let anyone else see this until we have spoken to Oscar. We should invite Galinda for breakfast or something. Though I won't be eating for a while."

There was no satisfactory explanation to be found in the letters by any of them. Galinda had been in a shock for a bit, to the point where they thought she might collapse, until Elphaba began to ask her what deductions she might have made, which brought her round eventually. They distracted themselves from the horror of it by attempting to find some flicker of a motive, and though almost every letter or transcript of telephone calls from generals, judges and magistrates begged their Wizard for a reason, Oscar gave none and deflected every one.

After three hours, Elphaba was more than ready to throw the letters at him, and demand the truth at the point of her wand.

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><p><em>*Ominous music plays, indicating trouble ahead* <em>


	4. Confessions, Confessions

_**Author's Note: **I do not own any WICKED characters or places etc etc._

_An speedier update because we're reaching my favourite parts of the story! I loved writing this chapter, it is sad and happy in equal measures. Basically, everything kicks off!_

_Enjoy! xx_

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><p>It was perhaps the most terrifying situation Oscar had ever been faced with when Elphaba blasted open the doors to his suite, flanked by Galinda and Fiyero, and watched as she angrily dismissed every other person from the immediate vicinity. He had felt the powerful wind that accompanied her entrance, the shivering of the table and the clinking of loose glass from above. He tensed. For any other person, no such atmosphere would have been created, but he was well aware of what she could do when she was angry, and it made his knees far too weak for his liking.<p>

She seemed to be seething like a boiling kettle on a hob. They closed and locked the doors and though sometimes Elphaba had been calmed down by her friends for overreacting, this time their faces were just as sombre and furious as hers and Oscar lost hope that Elphaba was merely overreacting to some injustice. In Elphaba's hands was a brown paper package. Oscar felt faint when he realised what must be about to happen.

"Elphaba . . ." His voice wavered, attempting to remain calm and civil for as long as possible. "I - I wasn't expecting any of you today . . . what a . . . a pleasant surprise this is!"

"Shut up, Diggs. None of us could give a flying monkey about your welcomes. We have something to talk to you about." Elphaba said, switching from a threatening tone to a mock-kindly voice, which made her seem all the more vicious. Galinda stepped forward and helped her friend empty the contents of the box. When he had first met her, he never gave Galinda the courtesy of supposing she would be much a of a strong figure but he had clearly misjudged her; over the years that he had corresponded and worked with her he came to see the power she had, more subtle than Elphaba's. She was more immediately likeable and he saw how dangerous it could be to make an enemy of any of them, so he sat down in submission.

"You know exactly what we're about to show you." Fiyero stated, silencing him with a raised hand when Oscar attempted to respond. Fiyero walked forward and leaned above him. His voice was barely above a whisper. With a heavy heart Oscar saw how wonderful he would be as a leader. "No more lies. None. Or they'll blast you to kingdom come." Warily Oscar stole a glance at the girls, and regretted it.

Elphaba handed the letters to Fiyero and, one by one, they placed each in front of him and explained what it told them. Every memo was detailed and when he tried to stop them, tried to explain that he knew what they had seen, Elphaba would whisper under her breath and he would lose his voice for a minute of two. he suspected she was stopping short of removing his powers of speech altogether.

When they got down to the last one, Elphaba sat down, too, across from him at the other end of the table. Her anger seemed to have dissipated and she looked crushed. Galinda stood behind her, sad. "Under these new laws you have put in place, we should have you carted to SouthStairs this very moment."

Panicking, Oscar blurted, "You can't do that to me! I'm the Wizard! Who would listen to you?"

"May I remind you Mister Diggs that you have given us Power of Elect. We're your advisers, your council. You quite wonderfully put an awful lot of power in our hands not two months ago. If you were to break the law, we are in the position to remove and rule you." Galinda's simplicity frightened him; she was right. In an effort to impress them and make them his allies, he had effectively destroyed his single dictatorship and spread the power evenly. Now he was their sitting dunce.

"Why?" Elphaba asked, leaning back into her chair. Though she spoke softly, it was evident that she meant for him to answer her quite plainly. "I want you to tell us exactly why you've done all this. You see, we've gone through all of these for hours and though what you've done and how you've done it is now almost second nature to us, what has remained a mystery is _why_. So enlighten us, please. Why would you do this?"

He rapped his fingers on the desk, knowing that if he told her, she probably wouldn't believe him. "I need to show you something then, Elphaba. And since I imagine you won't let me fetch it myself, I'm going to tell you where it is and you'll bring it to me." Fiyero shot a look to the girls and they shrugged; Oscar told him to search in his private desk. "Bring the bottle in here. The green one."

Elphaba's face suddenly snapped. Galinda's jaw dropped, very unlike her Gillikin upbringing and Fiyero bounded into the other room to bring what had been summoned. As the three sat in silence, Fiyero rolled the bottle in his hands. It was the very same one Elphaba said had been owned by her mother. "Fae, look at this." Fiyero walked slowly to her, catching eyes with a worried Galinda and attempting to hide the bottle from Diggs' view.

This was not the moment he had wanted to tell his daughter where her paternity and more importantly, he guessed, her verdigris came from. But since fate seemed to have dictated that he would no longer be allowed the luxury of a lie, he let down the drawbridge and could only hope she would see how truthful it was. "That bottle is not your mother's Elphaba. It's mine. I made quite a few of them." Oscar said as it was handed to Elphaba and she studied it carefully, with wide eyes.

Suddenly, Elphaba slammed her hands on the table and stood, sending splinters of wood flying up around her. "STOP LYING! Where did you get this? WHERE? Did you steal it? Have you had someone go through our things? Watch us? Have you been to my house? And what in Oz does this have to do with these letters?"

She was fuming, and Fiyero had to sit her down and hold her shoulders for a minute. "Fae, I think maybe we should let him finish." It was perfectly plain to Elphaba what Oscar was going to say, and she sat in front of Fiyero, burying her head in his shoulders. She could have been crying.

"I met your mother twenty-two years ago now. She gave me shelter and I gave her that bottle. And now . . . finally, she's given me you." Elphaba shivered. "Frexspar Thropp may have raised you, but I'm your father."

"That doesn't make sense." Elphaba pleaded, Fiyero kissed her forehead; he could feel tears on his hands.

Oscar half-stood, half-leaned over the table, in a desperate effort to be closer to her. Had he hoped she would let him embrace her? Kiss her? Oscar realised that in most of his daydreams of this moment, not one of them resulted in a positive reaction from Elphaba. He wondered how they would be in twenty years. "It does. I only wanted to give you what you had been missing. I knew how you were treated at home, and I also knew how brilliant you were. Are. You deserve so much more and you have earned this!"

"_This?"_

"Oh Elphaba I know what I did was wrong, I know that, why do you think I tried to cover it up? I learned from you and I wanted to make Oz a good place. You have to understand what it was like for me back home. I was bullied, too. I was segregated. I came here and all of a sudden everyone loved me. It's a very powerful thing. So I did under the circumstances what I thought was best."

"You think exterminating an entire race of beings is a good thing? You think that I would want that? Moron! You're an idiot! I hate you!"

"Elphaba I couldn't see any other way of changing what I had done without endangering my life."

"You mean your position." Galinda chimed.

"Well why not? Is that so bad?" He gripped the table as though it would will them into seeing it from his point of view, but it was fruitless.

Elphaba coughed. "Enough." Fiyero said, standing. "We don't want to hear anymore now. We're locking you in here, until we decide what is to be done with you." Oscar tried to speak once again, but this time Galinda rasped a spell and he lost his voice completely.

"I feel sick." Elphaba croaked once they had reached locked themselves in another state room. Galinda magicked over an empty vase and held her friend's tresses while she threw up. Fiyero poured several glasses of water for her and she sloshed them about in silence. It was almost too soon to talk. Too ridiculous to even contemplate.

"I want to know how he knows all of this about me. I want to see everything he has on us." Elphaba said eventually. She sat by an open window, the breeze acting as a glorious contrast to the heat and sweat on her skin. She felt dizzy and no one ate.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Morrible had had something to do with this. She seemed awfully interested in you, and not in an entirely innocent way." Galinda offered, sipping luke warm water and turning her glass absent-mindedly in her hands. Fiyero topped off his own drink and opened another window; it was too hot, too closed in. "Though she never did anything innocently."

"Do you think she knew, Elphie?" Fiyero asked gently. "About Oscar and . . . and the bottle?"

"Don't know." She responded, quietly. "I just want to see what he has on us." They nodded. "And it's not even important. It's not. I know what he wants; he thinks that since he's given all of this to me he can claim some kind of pathetic father-daughter relationship. Well I don't want it. I've managed perfectly well without it all my life and I don't need that. He's trying to deflect; I don't want to even begin talking about that bottle until we know what he's been doing with the animals. We need to start right now."

Fiyero knew she would need some council to absorb what Diggs had said about his relationship to her, but seeing her jump into action to save who they could of the Animals did calm him; it would occupy her. Apart from anything else, she was right; they shouldn't be wasting that precious time with personal issues when there were potentially millions of innocent lives at stake. Though it would probably take years to fully integrate Animals back into a tolerant and accepting community, at least keeping them safe was a start.

They knew there were certain members and factions of the Gale Force who knew nothing of the camps where Oscar had imprisoned Animals. Fiyero sent immediate dispatch orders to them and to his father's forces in the Vinkus with as clear and simple a summary of that mornings events as possible. He asked them to send either themselves or Evard to the Emerald City to help.

Galinda and Elphaba drew up draughts and notices deeming the camps illegal and sent them to their respective locations. Galinda also contacted the Gillikin Minister for the Wizard in the Uplands, Lord Guirr Hills, and her parents; the former to issue a governmental statement and the latter to raise powerful societal connections, whom they would desperately need to counter any anti-Animal protests. They needed their actions to be well-received. Galinda also wrote out her own statement to be issued to the public and contacted every press house in the city informing them that she would be holding a conference on the Wizard's balcony later that day.

Elphaba wrote her father and her sister with no less than several orders that they would fully investigate any suspicious anti-Animal acts in their area and announce a statement detailing the government's discovery or face an Emerald City investigation themselves. As an N.B., she also invited her father to the palace for a private meeting.

Fiyero convinced Elphaba not to travel to the camps herself, at least not for the time being, as they had been informed later that evening by express post from the Vinkus that Evard would personally accompany his men to the areas in question and see to the victim's freedom and initial recovery. They had dispatched thousands of aids and set up several donations funds to pump money into medical supplies, transport and rehabilitation. Elphaba would be kept busy enough in the City. Moreover, she had only just been able to keep her food down but would eat nothing. Fiyero found her nightmares returned and he counted down the minutes before his parent's arrival.

Over the next few weeks, Fiyero never appreciated his bed so much. They hardly ever made it home before midnight and would, Elphaba's constitution willing, try to leave every morning before seven o'clock. It was exhausting, and each of them tried not to let themselves dwell on it for too long, lest they lose momentum in there work. For the few hours they would rest, however, it was blissful. At least, Fiyero and Galinda found it so.

Elphaba never feel asleep before Fiyero and never slept past him in the morning. It was her retching that would rouse him more often than not. Every time she came close to sleep her mind would fixate on Oscar's revelation and her stomach would turn painfully. She had no proper meals for she could not keep them down and she was positive she looked more and more deathly every day. After two weeks, she found it only took her an hour to drift off, and she hoped eventually, her pain would pass.

One of the things the couple had both missed was the chance to be alone with each other, to talk, to just be together. Fiyero wondered if that was partly why they felt so stressed. So when, one night, he felt Elphaba turn into him and lean on his chest, he held her close and tighter than usual.

"How is she?" Came a sleepy voice. Fiyero mumbled in confusion as to what she meant, but Elphaba only repeated herself, louder this time.

"I don't know what you mean, Fae." He said, thinking maybe she was just talking in her sleep. He kissed her hair, and she was silent for a bit.

"How tired _are _you, Yero? Has she not been crying then? Or have you just been too tired to listen?" She was sitting up now, and he had to squint to focus on her irritated expression.

"Elphaba, what are you talking about?"

She started, and shook her head at him as though he was being ridiculous. He was worried. "Fiyero! Our daughter, who else?" She whined, rubbing her eyes.

Fiyero only stared at her, completely stunned into silence and stone. She must have woken from a dream, and thought it was real. He took her hands. "Elphaba," he began gently, "we don't have a daughter." She frowned. "We don't have a child." She stared back at him for a moment. "Are you alright?"

She turned her head and studied the room, which was beginning to light up with the dawn. There was no crib, or evidence of anyone having lived in the room other than themselves. She buried her head in her hands in mortification. "Oh Oz. I don't know what's wrong with me. I thought . . . it was so real."

"Your dream?"

"No, Yero, it wasn't a dream. It was a vision. I put a little girl to bed in this very room and climbed in next to you. You kissed me goodnight, we . . . we fell asleep together." She explained quietly, feeling his arms wrap around her. This vision meant it might be true, or some part of it at least. "She looked so beautiful."

Fiyero smiled, and kissed her. "Like her mother, then." Elphaba smiled and hugged him. She hadn't had the chance to be with him for so long. "It's alright, Fae. Quite funny, actually. You were so annoyed at me."

"Well I though you were just being a bad father." She said, cuddling into him under the covers, warm, safe and happy. They did not discuss that it had been a vision; there was no time at all for it and both chalked it down to a desire in Elphaba's subconscious that one day she wanted children with Fiyero. That was reason enough for now. As their eyes closed, Elphaba spoke softly once more. "But that's impossible, you'll be wonderful father."

* * *

><p>Elphaba's sudden loss of appetite following her sickness frightened Galinda a little, and though she remembered well enough how stress would affect her best friend, it had never been so bad before. She took comfort from Fiyero's promise that if there was one woman who could bring Elphaba up to the surface again, it was his mother. Their arrival had never been so eagerly anticipated, and Fiyero ran to the entrance hall to greet them when they did.<p>

"Morning, Mam, Dad. I'm sorry to have to bring you here for this, make you leave the Vinkus." Fiyero apologised, receiving a handshake from his father and a kiss from his mother.

"It's not a problem. To be honest when you sent express post I think we were expecting something a little more joyful," Minas admitted with a wink, which seemed to alleviate some of the tension, "but this is important and we're here. It's about time Evard began to learn how to manage the people himself anyway. The time will come when it's your brother you address as King." They smiled and he led them into their conference room.

"It seems you have the entire country up in arms, Miss Upland!" Nanda said as she greeted sweet Galinda with a kiss. "You have managed this beautifully." Galinda thanked her and returned to work on her press releases. "And where in Oz is Elphaba? I had so been looking forward to seeing her."

"And she you, Mam, but she's . . . well she's not been well. Very sick actually." Fiyero said sadly. "She did tell me to bring you up to her though." Nanda smiled and let her son lead the way to a cool and dimly lit drawing room where Elphaba seemed to have been sleeping. A maid curtseyed past them as they stepped in, carrying a pot with unhealthily sloshing liquids in it. "Fae, Mam's here."

"Oh my dear, aren't you an ill one!" It was an observation, and Elphaba smiled weakly, glad to hear Nanda's soft voice near to her. "Fiyero, do give us a minute, will you?"

Fiyero nodded. "I'll see you in a bit, Fae." He kissed her lips and hands and shut the door behind him. Nanda waited until his footsteps had completely gone until she spoke.

"How are you feeling?" She asked simply.

Elphaba rocked herself back and forward a bit, trying to replicate the motions of her stomach and trick her body into thinking she was actually still. "Terrible."

"Yes? All the time?" She asked probingly. Elphaba stilled, and eyed Nanda carefully. She shook her head.

"Not quite. The mornings." Elphaba waited for Nanda's response, fervently willing it to be fair. Nanda had known it would be this that was making her so stressed. It was not an ideal situation at all, she would have preferred them to be married and did not quite understand why they were not yet so, but it was really none of her business and she counted on Fiyero to do the right thing and stand by her.

Nanda's calm voice and gentle touch made Elphaba feel safer. "I didn't think so. I _always _know. It's quite plain to me what is making this all so difficult for you."

Nanda's words brought tears to Elphaba's eyes and she sobbed loudly into her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I don't . . . I mean I . . ." Nanda quieted her and dried her tears. "I'm not _sorry_, I'm just afraid, a little."

"It isn't me who should be comforting you about this, Elphaba. Fiyero is terrified. He thinks your _illness_, as I suppose he calls it, has been brought on by what you've found out about the Wizard." Nanda did not really consider her son to be terrified, but she could see that Elphaba would struggle to get the words out and actually tell him, and since they both knew he deserved to know, Nanda decided Elphaba needed a little push.

"It did turn my stomach, and it made me feel dizzy. But only for a moment." Elphaba explained. "I've woken up for quite a few mornings feeling sick, but it was only a few weeks ago that I had a physical reaction. And I didn't really know, I had hoped you'd tell me."

"May I?" Nanda asked, signalling that she wished to feel Elphaba's stomach. Sure enough, there was a subtle roundness. It made Elphaba's heart leap and Nanda found her qualms disappeared as she realised she would be a grandmother. And to such a wonderful daughter-in-law, though it was not yet official. "You should be happy, my dear." She said, pressing Elphaba's chin.

"How far along do you think I am?"

Nanda smiled and rubbed Elphaba's hands. "Well firstly, I am no doctor, so you must tell Fiyero and arrange an appointment with one. Secondly, I think you need some light and fresh air." Nanda silenced Elphaba's protests. "No, no. I won't hear of anything else; I know you think it will make you feel worse but I have had many children and I promise you nature at this point is your best friend."

"You make it all sound so normal." Elphaba whispered, allowing the light to sit warmly on her face, eyes closed.

"It is normal, believe it or not. And you must start eating as soon as you feel you can. Until then, dry toast and water. Cranberry juice, if you can manage it. I shall call a midwife for you." Nanda rang for the maid to bring them her suggested foods, a bill of the best doctors in town and Fiyero from the conference room. When he arrived, Nanda left to call for those who were needed and Fiyero began commenting on how much better she looked, even after only half an hour with his mother.

"She is magical, like you." He said sweetly, kissing her and smiling. It broke Elphaba's heart to see how happy he was now, and know that her strange behaviour had been so concerning him, yet he had hidden it as best he could from her. She knew what she had told him about the vision had unnerved him a little, and he had been on edge ever since. They all had.

"I have something to tell you, my love." She said as happily as she could. But her voice broke and her hands were wet with sweat, so it was obvious how nervous she was.

"You're practically shaking, you should eat some toast." He went to bring some from the table to her, but she squeezed his arms and got him sitting again. "What is it? Are you nervous or something? Are you ill?"

"Calm down, Yero, I'm fine I think." She said with as much ease as possible. "This has just been a bit of a stressful week . . . well, month." He frowned at her time logic. Not knowing what else to say, or how else to put it, she placed a hand on his neck and tried to smile, hoping he would, too. "I'm . . . pregnant."

"What?" He said quickly, as though he had not heard her.

"I'm pregnant. With a baby. Yours." She added, stupidly. Her breathing came in short bursts as he sat simply looking at her, like he had been paused in real life. Quietly, he asked her if she was sure. "I think so. Your mother said I am, and she's gone to arrange a doctor for us." He nodded. The only sound in the room came when they breathed, both irregularly, both out of time. Elphaba gasped when he placed his hands on her stomach and traced out the gentle bump that had begun to develop.

"Sweet Oz." He said, and finally smiled. "You are." He acknowledged and looked up at her, then down again to kiss the baby. Elphaba shut her eyes, and let the tears fall again freely. "Hey, it's alright! Fae, don't cry."

"But you're happy?" She choked, stroking his face where he wore a huge grin.

"Yes! Yes!" He said, cupping her face and kissing her urgently through her own smile and allowing her tears to fall, too, now that they were happy ones.

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><p><em>Thoughts?<em>


	5. Propositions

_**Author's Note: **I don't own, I don't own blah blah._

_Many numerous apologies, but Uni and actually going to see Wicked got in the way. I now have Tuckman depression, so I am taking it out on writing, which is great for you, because it means more updates yay! I hope I haven't lost anyone along the way. Please please say hello by clicking the lonely blue review button at the bottom!_

_Enjoy this one!_

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><p>"So your vision, then . . . that was when you . . ." Fiyero trailed off, obviously wanting her to finish his sentence for him. His hands still rested on her stomach; they lay on their bed, waiting for the doctor after having been sent home early from the Palace. Elphaba had gone to lie down, and Fiyero had opened the front buttons of her shift to kiss the little lump.<p>

"When I first thought, maybe I was, yes. You could say that. But it was the furthest thing from my mind really, until I began to get sick."

"I can't believe you're really pregnant. That's our baby." He said fondly, drawing a faint circle on her abdomen. Elphaba wound a few of his curls around her fingers and let her eyes close.

"I just wish . . ."

He sat up. "What? What is it?"

"I wish this had happened after we'd gone some way toward putting all this Animal business to bed. Well, if I'm wishing for things I would really prefer that their oppression had never happened _at all._" She said, massaging her temples with her hands.

Fiyero laughed. "Funny, then."

"What?"

"That isn't how I look at it at all." He replied, amused. "I think that in the midst of all this horror, there is nothing that could more wonderfully make us happy. Our baby, to distract us from it all. A little reminder that life goes on, of recovery. Maybe people will look on the baby as just that."

She smiled; it had never occurred to her to see it like that. "I love you Yero." He replied in the appropriate way but could say no more before the doctor was upon them and asking to examine Vizier Thropp.

He was a kindly and wisened man, Doctor Annthan Augg, as the delicately sown-in cursive on his coat informed them. "You may call me Doctor Than, if you please, Madam." He was respectful and careful and though both Fiyero and Elphaba were well aware of the gossip that would spread since they had conceived out of wedlock, Doctor Than seemed oblivious and actually rather happy for them. "It is always my pleasure to see a mother delivered of a healthy child, and to have both parents at ease with the process."

Elphaba guessed he was in his forties, and from his conversation they discovered he was a father three times over. With some discomfort she related to him when she had last menstruated and as exactly as she could the number of times since that date that she had engaged in sexual intercourse with Prince Fiyero. Neither could suppress a smile at their relationship laid out in such bare terms before them.

"At my calculation you are four months into your pregnancy, Madame."

Elphaba started. "I beg your pardon? _Four months?"_ She replied with some alarm; surely she could not be so far in. On Fiyero's part he had no idea whether four months was a big deal or not, and if it was why it should upset Elphaba so much.

"Well for a start you've begun to show, haven't you? And fairly prominently, although I doubt you'll be very big, as you are a small young lady. And from feeling the size of the fetus, and from your dates and descriptions. You are indeed four months." Elphaba sat reflectively on her chair, holding her stomach. Fiyero held her free hand and avoided the Doctor's gaze. "I can see you are alarmed, but let me explain; it's quite normal. You have an intensely busy occupation, you have never been pregnant before and for most first time mothers it takes longer to recognise the symptoms. Pregnancy various in every individual and you are no different."

"It is because I'm green?"

The question came utterly out of the blue, and Fiyero even laughed. "Don't be ridiculous Elphaba." He told her, though he had no way of justifying his belief.

The good doctor drew his chair closer to her, and spoke sincerely. "If there was some cause, in your medical history and your state before me, to suspect that whatever caused your skin to have its viridian hue had affected another aspect of your health then I would have considered it. But there is no such cause, and therefore your question is moot. Your skin is your skin, and you remain a perfectly normal and healthy woman. I give you my word."

Fiyero was more than grateful for his words; he said this to her on an almost daily basis, if not in words then in actions, but it never did any harm to hear it from a stranger. Elphaba nodded and trusted him. "Do you think . . . I mean is there a possibility that the baby will be green?"

Doctor Than sighed and looked thoughtful. "I have no way of knowing whether or not the child will take after you in _that_ respect. Perhaps you carry such a gene and there is a chance the baby will be green and a chance that it will not. Or it could be that . . . whatever it was, only affected you, and your child shall be unaffected. I find the latter to be quite plausible, since as I said, it seems only to have manifested itself on your skin."

"Thank you. Perhaps we'll just have to wait and see, then." She said, looking happy, much to Fiyero's relief.

"Indeed. Now if you have no more immediate questions I shall be getting on. Let me leave you with the assurance that the child and your good self Miss are both healthy and growing just as I should like. Here is my next appointment date for you, in one month. Call if you should need me before then." Doctor Than took his leave and was shown to the door by a beaming couple.

"Oh I'm sorry, sir." Galinda stepped aside to let him pass her, and reflected their happy smiles back. "You look so much better, Elphie!" She exclaimed, and stepped in towards her with a kiss. "And before you start, let me tell you we've had some fascinating developments; Fiyero, Evard reports that having managed to move his men past the shame of their ignorance of this they are now working to rehome and rehabilitate the families that have been parted. Elphie, your father is being very co-operative and I think I should credit that to your mentioning how Nessarose would feel about such an injustice. Though I must say I'm surprised you invited him here and so was he, but he'll arrive in two days _with_a very eager-to-learn Nessa. Bless her; I don't think she really understands the scale of this operation. I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to acquaint her with the real horror of it, since as a ruler she should know all the particulars, but she has such a tender disposition. I wanted your thoughts. But enough about work! I promised I would not bring it home to disturb you! How are you feeling?"

Elphaba laughed; she had missed her friend's chatty tendencies and as Galinda had led them through to the drawing room from the front door she seemed such a woman that Elphaba felt perhaps an unwarranted sense of pride at how much she was capable of. "I'm fine now, Galinda." Fiyero squeezed her hand and raised his eyebrows: did she want to tell her now? "We have something important to tell you."

Galinda's eyes widened. "Oh? Good news I think, since you both look fit to burst!" They smiled. "Are you engaged?" She asked, anticipating them.

"Eventually." Fiyero said quickly, catching Elphaba off guard. He kissed her forehead. "But not _right_ now." Fiyero saw the green girl smile, though he knew she'd deny it.

"Really? I could have sworn that's what it was. You know everyone expects it." She said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world and Elphaba and Fiyero were awfully dim if they had not noticed.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "We're having a baby, Galinda." She found it became easier and easier to say it, the more people knew, the more she saw how happy it made them. Galinda was no exception. She stared for a moment, her jaw and eyes as wide as the Shiz Gates before she put her hands to her blushing face and squealed.

"OH MY OZ! PARENTS!" She leapt up and threw her arms around her best friend. "ELPHIE! AND FIYERO!" She offered her most rambling and dedicated congratulotions and gushed when Elphaba let her see the bump, and told her she was four months gone. "_Four months?_ How? Well don't look at me like that, I know _how_, I just meant that I would have expected symptoms before four months."

"That's what I thought." She looked to Fiyero.

"But . . . what did the doctor say, Elphaba?" He comforted her; this would be a sensitive issue.

"But Doctor Than said in first time mothers things can be harder to identify, and without knowing my mother's history very well and since every woman is different, he told me not to worry over it; everything seems healthy enough."

"Oh," she made gushing noises and her eyes were heavy with tears, but it was quite clear how thrilled she was. "I have to ask . . . do your parents know? What will they say?"

"It isn't exactly an ideal situation is it?" Elphaba laughed, sitting again.

Fiyero took her hand. "But my parents are thrilled, Fae. This is their first grandchild."

"Of course they're happy, Yero, but don't be naive. It doesn't look very good that the rulers of Oz, and one of them a prince no less, are having a child out of wedlock."

"You know, there's an easy solution to that."

"Now is not the time, Yero." Elphaba warned him.

"What? What is it?" Galinda asked, her eyes dancing at the prospect of gleaning gossip from them.

Elphaba sighed. "It's _nothing_, Galinda, and none of your business. So mind it."

"Elphaba won't marry me."

"Fiyero!"

"Well, what's the big deal? If you're so against it why should you care if I tell anyone?"

"It's _private_." She hissed, taking his arm. He jerked it back. "And I don't want people to assume things they don't understand."

Galinda stood and shuffled quietly towards the door. "Maybe I should go." She said, observing how annoyed they both seemed.

Elphaba turned to stop her. "No, no, don't be ridiculous, Galinda you don't have to leave."

"Maybe we'll see you later Galinda." Fiyero interrupted

"Yero!" Elphaba shouted. "What's wrong with you?" The front door clicked and Galinda tentatively tip-toed outside and into the nearest non-awkward company.

"Elphaba, I hate to break it to you, but we may very well have to get married now." He said, slumping on the couch and pretending to read the paper.

She tore the broadsheet from his hands and stood above him. "Don't you dare act like that with me, Fiyero. I'm your girlfriend not your sister, so treat me with some damn respect."

"Why don't you try doing the same?" He stood, taller than her and tried to avoid catching the gentle rise of her abdomen that would melt his heart. "You know, it's not like I hate you, Fae. I want you to marry me because I love you. You'd think with all your intelligence you'd figure that out."

"But you've never actually asked me, have you? You've never asked me. You've only said you want to be with me with the rest of our lives."

"And what the hell do you think that means?" He sighed, taking her face in his hands, and laughing.

She nodded. "I know what it means, but . . . it's not exactly official is it? It doesn't really mean anything. I always agree with you when you say that. I say it to you, too. I've . . . been waiting for you."

"That's not true. I asked you if you would marry me."

She smiled. "You said 'would you want to marry me?' That's not the same thing, Yero."

"You still said no."

"Because . . . because it's scary. It's marriage Fiyero."

Fiyero sighed and sat her down next to him. He kissed her hand. "What's so scary? I don't ever want to be with anybody else. You're the woman of my dreams." She touched his face, and their lips met, soft and wet. He held her so well that she began to moan and almost cruelly, he broke it off to leave her wanting more. "I want to tell everyone that you're my wife, I want everyone to know I love you so much I'll make that commitment to you."

"Darling, I love you, too. Oh my love, I do want to marry you. It's just, I didn't want to rush into anything, and I didn't want you to regret . . . you know . . ."

"Wait, what?" She shifted under his gaze. "Did you think I would leave you?" Fiddling with her hands, she shrugged. "_Elphaba!"_ He groaned. "For Oz' sake!"

"I didn't _really _think that."

"Didn't you? Fae, please believe me. I think we have to get married now, but you know that I have always wanted to be your husband. You know that, don't you?"

She touched his beautifully concerned face; he was so distressed. "Of course I do."

"And as for not asking you properly. . ." He fished in his shirt pocket for that damned ring, and upon finding it, knelt in front of her and took her left hand.

Elphaba chuckled. "Fiyero, what are you doing? Get up!" She pulled on him playfully, but he stayed put.

"I'm trying to propose to you. Just sit and listen." She let go of him and waited, goose feet climbing up her back. "And then say yes when I'm done." He gave her the ring, delicate as it was, and she held it with her thumb and forefinger. She weighed it carefully and considered the beauty in its design. She assigned so much meaning to it as he spoke and it became more and more precious to her. "It's a family piece, princess." She looked at him, her expression soft and welcoming. "I want you to have it, if you'll have me." He kissed her so lightly she almost missed it, and her eyes were barely open when he spoke again. "Will you marry me, Fae?"

For a moment, he looked as though he thought she would refuse him. She had _never_ seen him so nervous before, and it made her laugh as she replied. She was giddy. "Of course I will." He grinned. "Put it on me." She whispered, holding out the ring. When he slipped it on and it shone from her hand, she felt no fear or panic and no distaste. She just loved him, more than anyone. It wasn't just that this was the right thing to do, or the thing they had to do to avoid scandal for their families and scandal for the government. It was what they both wanted, and they spent that night happily, excited to be the only two people in the world who knew they were engaged.

Except of course, for the baby, whom they included in all their conversations.

* * *

><p>To say that the household was elated to hear the news of their nuptial felicity was an understatement; it had been what Nanda and Minas had certainly hoped for (though it was not so bad a scandal as it would have been were Fiyero their firstborn, both decided not to bring it up as the right decision had been made anyway). Galinda could barely contain herself and as an engagement present, declared that day and the day of their marriage as National Holidays.<p>

"Your appearance at the balcony will soon have them all assuming they're getting a day off!" Elphaba scolded kindly.

"Well they should associate me with good things, so it isn't a problem." Galinda beamed proudly.

As they became associated with the idea of parenthood and marriage, the trio decided to ease themselves back into work and back into the motions of improving the sty of a mess the country was in. Oscar had remained banished to his room and stripped of any powers. Outwardly, he remained the ruler of Oz, but in reality his role was as nothing more than a figurehead. Elphaba recognised how much he was still trying to please her as he easily agreed to put in motion whatever task they set him. The rehabilitation, though by no means over, was extensive and Evard informed them that the Animal community could now relax and feel safe as best they could. It was clear no one would ever forget what they had suffered.

And this was the crux of their newest issue: whether or not to bring Oscar to justice. Intuitively, Elphaba felt he should be tried and sent to SouthStairs, but on a more practical level she saw that it would not be prudent to depose him. He may no longer have very much power of his own, but he still held sway with many others and they were unbelievably fortunate to have him still on their side. It had been the reason they had not instinctively called the guards on him that first day.

"We cannot send him away. It would be too detrimental." Elphaba said as they sat in a meeting-room to discuss the situation. Away from prying eyes and ears with a silence spell Galinda had cast proudly around the room, they broached the subject and Galinda and Fiyero were both utterly relieved not to have to be the ones to voice such an injustice. "I feel awful."

Fiyero sat up. "What? Are you alright?"

"She means because he's a criminal, Fiyero." Galinda said, mocking him. Fiyero relaxed and placed a hand on Elphaba's knee.

"I'm fine, Yero. I just hate that he can get away with this."

"You would be the first to tell me that moral issues and politics are never black and white; everyone must be taken into accountability and we have to consider how this would ramificate." Galinda crossed her legs, a sign she was feeling tense.

"Which is probably exactly what he was counting on." Elphaba muttered, still uneasy.

"We have to tread carefully; we are fortunate in that the people, Gillikin, the Vinkus and Munchkinland it seems are on our side. The army hasn't exactly been a dream team, but if Oscar is putting his faith in their loyalty to him he's forgetting that each individual soldier in that force has a family and a conscience. They're bright men, and it doesn't take a genius for them to work out where the orders came from. SouthStairs is full of Oscar's little henchmen, who are currently taking the brute force of public outrage."

"We've had to barricade the entrances. They keep throwing dirt and disgusting things through the grates. It's vile." Elphaba's stomach turned. "Let's not talk about that anymore. Please." Galinda agreed: her sensitive disposition was not suited to any of this, let alone the conditions at SouthStairs. "So what are we going to do with him?"

There was silence: no one had a clue.

Suddenly, Elphaba growled and jumped up. "Uggghh! How on earth are we supposed to fix this? We have a psychopathic amoral ruler on our hands and no way of punishing him! We have an entire species that have been oppressed and want to know what's going on and who's responsible. We have a furious public and a government teetering on the edge of doom. And we're three graduates with no training, no experience and no damned clue what the hell we're doing!"

"Elphaba it's alright. Calm down." Fiyero embraced her, looking at Galinda for help. "It's a mess, I know. But we'll get through it."

"How?" She asked him simply. He could not answer without lying, so she sat down again and brought her knees up as far as she could. A soft silence descended again, broken only when Galinda lifted her glass to drink, for want of anything else to do. She had stopped thinking about the Wizard, and went through the rest of her day in her head: she had a meeting with the Gillikin diplomat Lord Hills soon.

"I want him to leave Oz."

"What?" Galinda asked, almost frightened when Elphaba's voice had rung out in the quietness.

"I want you to make the announcement, Galinda. That the strains of Wizardship have been too much and he is taking an indefinite leave of absence." Fiyero frowned, rubbing Elphaba's back. Her face was concealed by her arms. "Do it today. So he has no time to gather some kind of revenge army."

"No, Elphie. I won't do that. You're . . . you're not thinking straight. I'm not surprised, but I won't make this announcement."

"Fine!" She yelled, angry. "I'll do it myself."

"No, you won't!" And she whispered under her breath and shot her arms at Elphaba. "You're not thinking straight and I won't let you make this mistake. I know he's a hated man, and I know what he did was beyond forgiveness, but he's still your father and that baby's grandfather and one day, you'll want him there. One day." She began to walk out. "And apart from anything else, we _all _have to agree on these things." She tossed her hair and slammed the door, immediately regretting what she had done.

In Fiyero's arms, Elphaba sat, crying and voiceless.

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><p><em>Remember that blue button I spoke about? Have a click and a type, let me know what you thought! :D Virtual performance of Wicked in your living room if you do!<em>


	6. In My Defence

**_Author's Note: _**_disclaimer, yada yada. _

_Terribly sorry once again, I'm afraid length between updates can't be helped because firstly I simply don't have time and secondly I refuse to publish if I'm not satisfied with how it's been written and that means I like to spend some time thinking about the developments._

_Rather love the progress in this one . . . enjoy! xx_

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><p>"Miss Upland, a pleasure to meet you. Lord Hills, esquire."<p>

Galinda shook the man's hand firmly – her way of undermining her own girlish looks – and gestured for him to sit again. "The pleasure is mine, my Lord. I haven't been home in quite some time; is it just as lovely as I remember?"

She had stormed straight into her meeting, thinking it the best way to avoid an angry Elphaba and Fiyero. Apart from anything else, she had been inexplicably looking forward to this appointment.

He smiled. "Well, that depends, does it not, on how you remember it?"

"Yes . . ." she said, amused. "Indeed it does. And I'm pleased to say my recollections consist of nothing but happy memories." He chuckled. Lord Hills was young, for a Lord, and quite handsome she noted. She knew, as it was her job to do, his work history and his family. He had none, apart from an elder brother and no wife or children. He was devoted to his mission and was known as one of the most honest and trustworthy men in Gillikin. He was one of very few members of the diplomatic government that Elphaba had insisted they keep on. Apparently, Lord Hills had courageously avoided nurturing any close friendship with the Wizard during his reign so far.

Now was the time to change that. "I'm glad to hear it, then. Gillikin seems to be in good working order. There is a sense of some burden having been lifted since the in-statement of your triumvirate. I feel the honest people realise there is no longer any need to hide, and the dishonest realise their days are numbered. Their vocal activity of previous years means it has not been particularly difficult to round them up."

"Most are in SouthStairs as we speak, are they not?" She offered him tea, which he accepted gratefully. She suppressed a smirk when he dissolved three sugar cubes in the hot water and confirmed her question. "Well, and there they shall stay for a good long time."

"Let us hope so, Miss Upland."

"Vizier Thropp, Prince Fiyero and I would very much like to increase the lines of communication between Gillikin, yourself, and the Emerald City. We very much admire your strong stance on Animals, and politics in general. There is a new wave of thought descending on our land, and we wish you to be a part of it, an important part, as you have already done so far."

Hills sighed and sat back, staring at her happily. "I'm impressed. I have never quite heard a young person of your age speak so passionately, nor be so well informed. I am not, of course, only speaking about our meeting today."

"Well thank you, my Lord. I am very grateful." Galinda blushed a genuine blush. She felt complimented as his equal.

"I am quite sincere." He said quietly. There was a quiet moment, and Galinda felt a chill. She rose and shut a window. "I suppose we should get down to business." Hills began. "I have a list of informants for the former Gillikin General you may wish to see."

"Yes, yes certainly. Go ahead."

He drew out parchments, curled at their top and bottom but otherwise in the neat, flat condition of Gillikin governmental paper she remembered. They would deliberately curl the ends now in order to make the sheets seem more as they did when curling was unavoidable due to the method of delivery which required all letters to be rolled up like scrolls. Galinda for a moment thought she may begin practicing this old art herself. Perhaps it would remind people of a better time.

"Well, as you can see," he passed the documents to her, "there are quite a substantial number." Galinda nodded, ticking through the names she recognised in her head. "The last parchment here details the list of most leaders, or those we found to be most active: giving orders and organising and the like." He allowed her a moment to glance at the list. "I'm sorry I can't give much more information than what is contained in these papers. They do not have much of a case regardless, most information is superfluous." He stopped. "Miss Upland? Are you quite alright?"

She must have turned an unhealthy shade of white when she read the name. She felt lightheaded and for the first time in a long time, very frightened. It was difficult to maintain her composure, but she had not expected him to mention it; most men, especially society men, would have ignored her rapid colour change. "I am . . ." she paused, "I am not alright. No, in fact, I am very much not alright." He frowned and waited. "Lord Hills," she said, dragging her chair forward, very unladylike. "This man here, what else can you tell me about him?"

He read the name she gestured to. He noticed the beautiful elegant point of her finger that reminded him of home. She was a Pertha Hills girl if ever he had met one. "This man is quite a slippery one, in fact."

"I see by your notes here that he is not yet in custody."

"No indeed he isn't. He has been evading the army and the police for quite some time now. In fact I was hoping to discuss with Vizier Thropp this very issue. Rumours abound that she knew him, or knew of him once. I know enough of magic to know its relatable qualities and we thought she might be of great use in actually locating him. He seems to be a master of disguise."

Galinda shook her head. "I am afraid, my Lord, that such a wish can never be granted. I would be very surprised if she would have anything to do with him."

"I know their history, Miss Upland."

Galinda started. "And how . . ?"

"It is my business to know the business of these men. I understand the experience was traumatic, but I had hoped to appeal to her desire to have him put away. You cannot deny me that this is not something she would want?"

Galinda sighed. "I cannot. I will speak to her about it. But I cannot guarantee you anything, I'm afraid. Especially not at this time?" The Lord raised his brow in question. "Ah you know they are engaged? And expecting a baby? Vizier Thropp and Prince Fiyero, I mean."

"Of course, of course. Well, perhaps you can appeal to her future role as a mother?" Galinda laughed and promised she would.

* * *

><p>"I said I was sorry Elphie! ELPHIE! Open the door this instant! I know you can speak again!" Galinda demanded, tapping her toe impatiently. Had she known how to perform a spell to open doors she would not be in her present situation. It was quite a while before she had discovered Elphaba had gone home with Fiyero after they met. There was little progress being made abroad that they could not conduct from home, and since Elphaba had no voice to speak with, there was no reason to continue with any meetings. "Please, Elphaba?"<p>

"Let me answer the door, Yero." Elphaba said, moving past him with a kiss and taking a breath before she turned the handle. "Hello, Galinda."

"Don't give me that. I said I was sorry."

"You aren't sorry."

"Okay fine, maybe not, but that's only because you needed a swift kick in the backside, Thropp."

"Thropp?" Fiyero chuckled.

Elphaba suppressed a smirk. "Come inside, for Oz' sake. It's freezing." She pulled her in and took off her coat. Galinda looked confused as she was simultaneously taken of by Elphaba and chastised. So they weren't going to talk about what she had said about Oscar. Fine. Fiyero shrugged: it was about as good an acceptance as Galinda would get. "Are you hungry?"

"No."

"You'll eat with us." Galinda agreed happily. She liked this side of Elphaba. It was very cute, though Oz knows she would never ever say that to her.

"She's been quiet today. Wearing her thoughtful face." Fiyero whispered as they heard the green mother-to-be gently clinking dishes and cutlery in the kitchen. "She looked tearful earlier. Oh no, I don't think because of you." He added, when Galinda looked afraid.

"Well why else? I insulted her and stole her voice. Literally. I'm as bad as the Wizard."

"Oh don't be melodramatic." He punched her playfully.

Elphaba came through then, smiling, and boasting a stew that made their mouths water painfully. "It's exceptional if I say so myself."

"You made this?" Galinda asked, breathing in the scent, deeply, and eagerly sitting with her bowl on her lap.

"I used to make it at home all the time. Mama's favourite. Nanny's recipe." She said, with a fondness. They did not know how to reply since she so rarely mentioned her mother. It was hardly surprising, given her condition and their entire situation.

"Shouldn't we be at the table? I mean, I've never ever had dinner anywhere else. Except when I was ill, and I'd have it in bed."

"We'll eat here, Galinda. It'll be a break from routine." She began to serve, and even the smoke filled their stomachs with pleasure and warmth. "I hope you like it." Fiyero kissed her and held the pot as she dolled out their portions. Hearty ones, at their requests. "I used to make this for Nessa and my Father. It was a favourite. If he was ever angry at me, if I had ever let my magic get away from me or embarrassed the family, all I would have to do is make this," She scooped a cut of well done meat onto her fork and watched the steam rise, "and I wouldn't hear another word."

"I'm not surprised. Elphie, this is so good." Fiyero laughed as he watched Galinda shove food down her throat. For a born lady she could have eaten half of Oz. "You should make this tomorrow, you know, for when they come. It might make your father slightly less angry when you tell him you're engaged and pregnant."

"Thanks for making it sound so happy, Galinda." Fiyero said.

"I am _trying_ to prepare you for an uncomfortable situation. Don't make me the bad guy here. Elphie, you know he won't be please."

"Galinda, what are you doing?" Fiyero hissed. It had taken him ages to reason against Elphaba's desire to revenge on her friend and he did not want to spend the rest of the nigh curbing the same feelings again.

"Fiyero, she's right. And though it may surprise you, I can handle my own father. Anything he does will be nothing new. He hates me already. He will either rant on about how bad this is for the family, or he won't care. Both of those instances are ones I can live with. I have come to terms with the fact that he will never love me. It's fine."

But it seemed far from fine, and the only sounds that broke the sad quiet to follow were those of reluctant young friends finishing their meal together.

* * *

><p>"Oh Oz I feel sick." Elphaba whispered to Fiyero. They stood in the entrance hall of the Emerald City Palace, ready to welcome the government from Munchkinland. Frexspar and Nessarose Thropp.<p>

"Elphaba, it'll be fine."

"What if he notices?" She panicked, smoothing down her dress to conceal her bump. "We won't even have a chance to . . . to . . ."

"Charm them?" Fiyero finished, smiling to himself. He sighed at her sharp look. "Oh Elphaba."

"Fiyero I'm serious. I want them to be happy about this. I know what it's like to grow up without that."

"Except this baby has family who already love it." He reminded her, stroking her stomach. He kissed her. "Try and relax, be yourself." She shot him a confused look. "Really, I mean it. You can be quite persuasive, Fae. Won me over, didn't you?"

"I already feel sick, Fiyero, don't make me worse." She still smiled when he kissed her neck. "I'm nervous. Fiyero." She grabbed his hand and linked their fingers too tightly. He thought her ring must be hurting her.

"I won't let anything happen to you." He said, squeezing her hand more fiercely than she, and inching slightly in front of her. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She said quietly. Sometimes it would irritate her that he would try to insinuate a weakness in her. But it was unfounded, she knew. He was the only person in the world she would let take care of her. And Galinda, of course, who was flitting around the hall organising where they would each stand. She had Elphaba and Fiyero in the front, and conveniently, his parents in what would be Frexspar's sight line. Their authority would lend the new couple some credence.

"Is this really necessary, Miss Upland?" Asked Minas, huffing as he was ushered into position. "Wouldn't a spontaneous welcome seem less forced? This does give the impression that they are more important than their positions warrant. And I'm sure Frexspar Thropp needs no encouragement to inflate his own self-importance." He said the last under his breath.

"Minas." Nanda hissed under her breath, eying Elphaba.

"I hardly think his eldest daughter is ignorant of the general opinion regarding her father. I do believe there are some who think she started it."

"I wish I had." Elphaba laughed. Nanda shook her head, a slightly warm feeling spreading.

"This is _very_ necessary! We want to make everyone feel welcome in this government, even people we don't really like because we are lovely and we don't judge."

"We like Nessa." Elphaba retorted.

"Do we?" Galinda asked, an eyebrow raised. "Alright then." Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Elphaba try not to look so nervous. You'll give yourself away."

"I would've thought that my ambulatory appearance would've given it away."

"Elphaba, you only think you look like that because you know you're pregnant. They haven't a clue. Just relax. As far as everyone is concerned you are here to welcome them as the new rulers of Oz. Reason enough in itself." Galinda nodded with pride at her own logic and ignored the new worry lines on her green friend's forehead. "And you don't look ambulatory. You look beautiful."

Elphaba smiled bashfully, knowing when Galinda meant her compliments. "Thanks." She said, quietly.

A crackle of stone under wheel from outside signaled the arrival of the Governor's carriage and that of the family Thropp themselves. A small but contained commotion announced that Nessa had descended and the shrill tones of a third body set Elphaba on edge.

"Oh no."

"What is it?" Galinda asked, slightly thrown at the unexpected third guest. She very much disliked such surprises. "

"Nanny. Of course, they brought Nanny." Elphaba breathed, her pulse quickening, and her grip on Fiyero tightening beyond the point where pain could aptly describe the feeling it created.

"Well, what's one more?" Galinda said, with false cheer.

"No. No, she'll know. She'll notice me. She sees tiny changes. I can't do this. I can't be here." She went to turn around but Fiyero rooted her to the spot. "Let me go."

"No. Now come on, Elphaba, we have to do this. It's not a big deal. If she notices something, we'll deal with that, too. Nothing has to be resolved in the hallway. Everything as it comes, alright?" She turned towards him. "Listen to me, what did I say earlier, hmm?" He was whispering in her ear. "I won't let anything happen to you. So they can say what they want about you but it doesn't matter because I love you, and I'm marrying you and we are going to be parents."

She let go of her iron grip, and touched the soft skin behind his neck. "I know. But it matters to me what they say. What they think."

"And that is exactly why we have to do this together, and with dignity. If you run away, you're only confirming your fears that they'll judge us. I know this is unusual and that had we planned our future this is not how it would have turned out, but that doesn't matter anymore. I know you wouldn't change a thing if you could. I've seen how happy you are. We'll tell them with pride that we're pregnant."

She nodded and let him guide her back to Galinda's prescribed position. "Well thank goodness for that. You almost utterly ruined my entire welcome strategy." Elphaba squashed a mean retort and forced a slight smile in its place, though it looked borderline cunning as a result.

A velvet-lined plush wheeled-chair was first through the door and Nessarose made a beeline for her sister. "Elphaba!" She exclaimed, extending her arms in an unprecedented display of affection. Her sister returned it, however, grateful for any sign of love from any of them and trying desperately to distract them from her protruding stomach. "How we missed you! We are so happy to hear about your engagement, Fiyero!"

"Oh? You speak for Father now, do you?"

"Don't be like that. Don't be ungrateful."

"Ungrateful? Ungrateful? Who –"

"My Elphaba, what a wretched old ride for an old woman. Nanny isn't well enough for such an invite anymore."

"We didn't invite you, Nanny." Elphaba replied, bluntly. "Give me that." She took her single case from her wrinkled, nervous hands.

"No. No, that's Nanny's. Mine. Nothing for the little frog. Little tiny, toddling frog, hopping over the moss-ridden bogs. Searching, searching, searching."

"Shut up." She spat, grabbing the suitcase anyway and requesting as politely as she could that it and its owner be escorted upstairs, out of sight, anywhere. Nanny continued to sing madly to herself as she left. "Calm down, Galinda. She's out of her mind. Pay her no heed." She said, in response to her friend's almost terrified looks at Nanny's rhymes and whines.

"Good afternoon, Governor." Fiyero said, extending his hand and having it received. Galinda introduced herself and welcomed him.

"Hello, Father." Elphaba croaked. "How was your journey?" She asked, self-consciously.

"Oh just fine. And you're well. I should so." He said, turning to Fiyero with a warning look. "Your Majesties!" He exclaimed, with far more happiness than he had ever shown Elphaba, and started up an unnecessary conversation with them about his youngest child.

Elphaba sighed. "Well." She said, defunct as to any other reaction.

"I think that went off rather well, don't you? No shouting, no unwanted revelations before their prescribed time." Galinda trotted off ahead of her friends to join Nessarose and play hostess.

"You wait til dinner, Galinda." Elphaba warned, accepting Fiyero's arm on her shoulders.

* * *

><p>"Elphaba! Your signature dish!" Nessa beamed when the plates were served. "Oh, I haven't had this in an <em>age<em>. It really is the best food I ever tasted."

They had broken up before the meal, to the relief of most, so they might freshen up and delay the inevitable conversation. Galinda was an angel for Elphaba: she toured her family and kept a steady and interested stream of speech flowing between everyone in the party. When they entered the dining room, it provided its own topic, the architecture being so powerful. For Elphaba's sake, Galinda had kept the décor to a minimum of glamour, but it remained a warm and comfortable room.

"You didn't make this yourself, did you?" Frexspar asked, a hint of disgust on his lips as he shook out a napkin and placed it on his knee. He felt embarrassed that she had made this food for them. Though they were Winkies, Minas and Nanda were still royalty and that they should be forced to eat the food from a Munchkinlander's recipe was humiliating. It had been a favourite of his, and he knew why she had chosen to serve it but it made her seem pathetic in his eyes and he wondered why she was now so desperate to please him.

"No. No, I gave the recipe to the cook. She watched me make it for Fiyero."

"It smells delicious, Elphaba." Nanda wrinkled her nose in happiness at the meal before her.

Elphaba leaned over to Fiyero and whispered. "I feel sick. I can't eat this."

"Well, sometimes a natural opening presents itself."

"Not funny." But she betrayed herself with a smile that showed her teeth. "I hope you like it." She said to the table as they began. The food was received well and seconds were served as they knowing half of the table began to relax a little.

"You look like your mother, Elphaba." Nanny said, suddenly. Her piercing little voice rising up from one end of the table.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the conversations that had been in progress had no choice but to abruptly cease. "Don't make me regret allowing you to sit with us, Nanny. Quiet, now." Elphaba said, desperately hoping to have everyone ignore her.

"What do you mean, Nanny?" Frex's voice took on that accusatory, booming quality that gave Elphaba shivers. "What do you mean she looks like her mother?"

It grated Elphaba that Nanny took pleasure in the quiet after Frex had spoken. She would use her chance to speak to its full potential. "Elphaba looks like Melena this evening." Elphaba paled. Her mother's name was never mentioned. "I have always thought so. But tonight, in particular."

"You do look different, Elphaba." Nessa said, innocently.

Elphaba felt her father's eyes on her and found she had as much power to speak as when Galinda had taken her voice. She felt paralysed. "I do?" Was all she could muster.

"Yes. Why is that?" Frex demanded.

"Nanny couldn't answer why at first Frex. But now it comes to Nanny. Miss Elphaba reminds me exactly of her mother when she was carrying Miss Elphaba. Oh she was a beautiful woman with you girls. Beauty, beauty, beauty."

"Shut up Nanny!" Elphaba said, panicking. "Don't . . . don't . . ." Her instinct was to deny it, but of course she could not.

"Now I think we all need to calm down." Nanda said. Her cool voice seemed to bring some reason to the table. "Elphaba, there is something you would like to say I think. Now would be-"

"Stand up, Elphaba." Frex interrupted her, his face almost crimson with anger. "Stand up now."

"Father, what's wrong?" Nessa asked, looking heartbreaking in her innocence.

"It's alright Nessa." Elphaba replied. Her hand was out, signalling that she would have touched her had they been closer. "What are so worried about father?" She said, a quietly burning confidence coming to the surface. "What do you want to see?" Fiyero watched her with so much pride.

"I want you to _stand up!"_ He growled, a fist slamming the table and reverberating round.

Elphaba coughed and folded her napkin on the table, calmly pushing her chair back and standing, as she was told. "Well?"

"Turn." He said. "Turn to the side." Elphaba turned to her left, towards Fiyero. Frex deliberated a moment, before resting his head in his hands.

Fiyero placed a hand on Elphaba's when she lovingly revealed the bump by holding it on its underside. She smiled at him, proud she had not crumbled under her father too much.

"How could you do this?" He coughed, almost sinking into his chair. "What have you done?"

"We're having a baby, father. Most would consider that a joyous occasion."

"Not when they have _you _for a daughter!" He snapped.

"And what, exactly, am I?" Elphaba asked calmly. She sat down, her face stony and angry. "I'm your eldest daughter. I'm the image of my mother and I'm going to have my own child.

"And you!" He said, gesturing to Fiyero, who nonchalantly sat up and directed his gaze to the fuming father. "You were a mistake I should never have permitted."

"I am not something you can permit or otherwise. I love your daughter and I intend to marry her, in case you were the only person in Oz not to have heard."

"We heard. I'm very happy for you, Elphaba." Nessa repeated, smiling hesitantly, as though afraid to disobey her father.

"Thank you, Nessa." Elphaba said. "We're getting married. And you're going to be a grandfather. This is a good thing!" She pleaded as Frex stood furiously.

"In _what way, Elphaba?_" He paced, his boots thundering on the floor. "This is an _abomination._ You were an abomination. You . . . disgusting little _green thing._ Handed to me like I was meant to touch _you!_"

"That's not true! That's not true! You loved me! You did, and so did she. I remember. I was only small, but I remember it so well. Nessa, you should have seen her like that."

"But she never got to, did she? And it was _your fault!_"

"I did not feed her those god-forsaken milk flowers! I did not force them down her throat and I did not drive her to another man!"

"But it was because of _you!"_

"NO! It was because of you! You and your stupid, unfounded fears! There is nothing wrong with me. There is nothing wrong with me. You did this, you did all of it. And instead of facing up to what you did to her you blamed it on someone who couldn't possibly defend herself." She took a breath, trying to calm down. Frex leant on a window sill, and she could see he was crying. She was pushing him, and she knew it. "I was three, and yet it is clear as day. You picked me up and showed me my little sister, lying next to my mother. She was dying, and could barely breathe. You told me about Nessa's little legs and you said she would never walk." In the corner of her eye, she saw Galinda comforting her sister, dabbing her tears with a handkerchief. "You said 'this is your entire fault. You killed your mother and crippled your sister.' And I believed you."

"Father . . ." Nessa began, shocked and shaken. "I don't understand. It isn't Elphaba's fault."

"Don't you teach not to punish the child for the faults of the parent?" Elphaba asked. "Do you think I chose to be like this? Do you think I don't see how different I am, how much people judge me or are disgusted by me? Don't you think I could have dealt with that if I could only have had you as a father?"

"But you can, Elphaba. Father, tell her you're sorry. Tell her that, and we can be like a proper family!" Nessa begged him, rolling toward him and taking his hands. "Please."

"He can't do that, Nessa." Elphaba said. "He was never my father." Frex locked eyes with her and frowned.

"Ah . . . Nanny knows."

"Nanny, tell us about the man who stayed with Mama. What was his name? What did he look like?" Elphaba asked, breaking the gaze and bringing her chair next to the old woman.

"His name was Oscar Diggs. He was young, brave, handsome, and foreign. Not from any land I knew. And he gave her that little green bottle you carried with you. And she loved him. And then he left."

Elphaba smiled and thanked her. Nanny had never in all the time she had known her spoken so clearly and directly. "Frexspar Thropp, you couldn't treat me as your daughter, could you? Because you knew that I never was."

"She loved me." He whispered into the distance, into the landscape of the Emerald City. It was saddening, almost, as though he was trying to reach her, to hear her responding positively to him.

"I can't say if she did or not." Elphaba admitted. "And I can't say how this will turn out." She felt her bump. "You mistake me if you think I don't love you. You may not be my paternal father, but you raised me and housed me and I wouldn't have any of these wonderful things if not for you." He said nothing, and did nothing. Bravely, she moved towards him. "I'm not naive: I can see how much shock you must have had to come to terms with when I was born. But you already loved me. You used to play with me. You bought me a toy that for the life of me I could never find after Nessa was born. You sang to me next to the fire. I'm sorry for what happened to Mama and Nessa, but it was not my fault. You must see that."

Frex continued to stare resolutely into the nothingness of the gleaming, glowing, blinding lights of the city. He drew random circles on the stone of the sill and Elphaba could feel every inch of her body and the space it occupied. She hoped it was enough. She did not think she could speak anymore. She was so tired.

"You're really pregnant?" He said suddenly, looking up at her. She nodded. "And you," he said, turning to Fiyero, who had stood and already made his way next to his fiancée. "You'll marry her?"

"It would make me the happiest man in Oz, sir." He replied, maintaining his composure by the skin of his teeth.

"When? When will it be born?"

"Next year, just before summer."

"And when will you get married?"

"Christmas."

"May I . . . may I join you? May Nessa and I," he took his youngest by the hand, "join you?" Nessa nodded encouragingly.

"Course." Elphaba muttered, worried if she spoke too loudly, she would shatter the delicate truce the seemed to have come to.

* * *

><p>"I can't say I saw that coming, Yero. He wants to be at the wedding?" She asked, incredulously. She draped her dressing gown over her chair and sat next to him on their bed, gently fingering the warm quilt.<p>

"You want him there? He doesn't have to come."

"Of course he does. He's still my father, whatever Diggs says." Fiyero nodded. "I think I embarrassed Galinda beyond repair. She wouldn't look at me, I couldn't get her to talk to me."

He drew the covers over her and let his hand settle underneath them as she lay down. "I think maybe she was just frightened of upsetting you more. You were quite formidable this evening." He leant down and kissed her, pressing a little more heavily when he felt her hand on his neck. "I'm so proud of you. Standing up to him like that."

She hugged herself right next to him as they fell asleep. "What kind of mother would I be, if I had this baby, knowing I couldn't defend it even to my own family? If it's the last thing I do, I'll make sure it knows how much it is loved."

* * *

><p><em>Aw 3 Click the little blue button to make people smile. . .<br>_


	7. It takes an entire village

_**Author's Note: **I do not own, much to my chagrin._

_A shorter, but faster update for you all! A fun, calm one, after the long intensity of the last. Enjoy! _

* * *

><p>"Galinda, this is ridiculous." Elphaba sighed. "Have you <em>ever <em>seen a horse climbing a wall? Or indeed a Horse? I certainly haven't."

"Elphie, this is just wallpaper for the love of Oz. It is meant to amuse and inspire young minds to greater things!" She said, holding up a strip of beautifully drawn horses and modelling it against the wall for her friends to judge.

"Galinda, when I said you could help decorate, I meant just that. Why must there be patterns at all? I never had any and I'm sure Nessa did not. It seems a little much. A baby won't know the difference."

"It's like she's from a different world." Galinda complained, holding the paper first this way, and then that way.

"She _is_ from a different world. Her father is, anyway." Fiyero reminded them. He joined Galinda in the positioning of the paper. "Now, Fae, you can't tell me this doesn't look sweet?"

"You two will be the death of me. I don't even know why you've chosen horses of all creatures!"

"They could be Horses as you said yourself!" Galinda tried, hoping to persuade her to another, more positive point of view. "And as if a baby won't know the difference!" She said, as if suddenly recalling that Elphaba had mentioned it. "You remember not having any, don't you? And I remember having decorations all the time! Fiyero, you would agree, please tell me you would agree with me? You do not want your son's rooms to be barren! A baby is a sign of fruitfulness and multiplicity!"

"Galinda please stop talking about fruitfulness." Elphaba begged. "How do you know he's a boy?" She asked, highly curious.

"_You_, my love, darling, have been using 'he' and 'him' for months now." Fiyero said, setting his hands on her hips and leaning down to kiss her sweetly. "And horses would be an appropriate animal, or indeed Animal, for a boy or a girl, so it does not signify, dearest."

"Does it not?" She teased him, returning his kiss and laughing. "Well alright. I couldn't care less."

"Which means you do care."

"It does not mean that, it means I care very little, if at all, Miss Galinda." Elphaba corrected her, walking steadily from the room. "And, if I am honest, which I would hope I am, I must say there isn't another soul in the world I would trust to my baby's aesthetic comfort than yours, Galinda." Galinda looked tearful as she thanked her. "Don't cry. If you can't see the room for tears then how will you ever know what it looks like?"

Elphaba laughed at her own joke and they left Galinda simpering and swooning over her wallpaper collection in the room.

She was bigger now, the bump increasing to a more obvious size as they moved closer to Lurlinemas and Fiyero and Elphaba's marriage. Their house was busy and filled with Fiyero's entire family, though they had pleaded for it to be as small a wedding as possible, the sizes of their respective families mean this was a hard promise to keep. Elphaba had only just curbed Galinda from inviting her own parents.

It had been decided that Oscar must stay in government. They had little other choice: it would not make much sense to the people if their ruler suddenly absconded or was removed, especially when it seemed as though he had been one forceful factor in restoring Animals' positions in society and education and politics and so forth. Answers were needed still, and they all felt that one day they would be held responsible for keeping him an arm's length away from justice. For now, that day was yet to come.

"I hate this wedding." Elphaba moaned as she walked past a highly decorative bough being tactically draped across their banister.

"I am so glad." Fiyero replied, smiling sarcastically in response. "Oh Fae," he kissed her forehead, "it's not for us, really. It's for them." He said, pointing to his parents and Nessarose, who was being gleefully introduced to all his siblings. "Why bother?"

"Because it isn't for them. That's what funerals are for. The person who has died doesn't give a twig what happens because there isn't a thing they can do about it, being dead and all." Fiyero laughed. She drew him into the kitchen, empty for the moment, where their cook had left Elphaba fruit to eat, as was her favourite thing to do. Fiyero often found her down in the dark room in the middle of the night, carving elaborate shapes into apples and melons. Her denial of liking Galinda's furnishings had confused him in that sense and he wondered if the blonde would fare better with fruits. "But we will both be present at our wedding. I don't want to feel embarrassed. I don't want to feel nervous. I just want to be your wife. Why should we have to make such an event of it?"

He joined her in chewing the slices of a pink rosy apple, and flicked an errant pip from the corner of her mouth. She checked the other side, an adorable look of confusion on her face. He would never use that word in front of her. "Well, why in Oz did you not say so before?"

"I can't bear to deny them the happiness of it. I feel so guilty for this whole . . . thing. No, no, I know, my darling I'm don't regret it." She said when he made to contradict her. He touched her face. "When I see your parents, my father and my sister, or a citizen or member of the government, I know they're judging me. I know they're thinking 'what a harem, what a woman. She has no self-control.' You'd think I'd be used to that by now."

"I've seen you care less about these things, Fae." He peeled and split an orange for them. "Just try a little harder to see that what you think other people are saying is not true. The people admire you and my family love you."

She was thoughtful. She played with his hand and traced his skin with her fingers. "I love you, Yero my hero." He smiled, though she didn't see it. She tapped a little rhythm out on her tummy, rounded, soft and full of life. Whispering, she said, "I don't have any choice, really. It's not my wedding."

He frowned: he hated the show, too. "Just think of it as labour." She looked at him, smirking, intrigued. "Well, that'll be painful, but when it's over, we will have something so wonderful," he copied her little rhythm with his own fingers.

Elphaba shook her head. "Your logic never fails to amuse me, Yero."

"You two! Elphaba, come here at once, we have to settle this now." Nessarose stormed into the kitchen and out again, calling for them all the while. They held hands and walked out to face the disaster. "I think the colours must be ivory and Nanda insists on white. Well?"

"Sorry, colours for what?" Elphaba asked.

"Your dress, dearest!" Nessa replied, feigning irritation as though she had one thousand things to do.

"What is wrong with white? It is the traditional colour for your part of the world. I am being accommodating. If it were a Vinkun wedding she would be in Royal Blue." Nanda said in her defence, handling a beautiful piece of white lace. Elphaba put out her hand and was passed it.

"It is beautiful, Nessa." She admitted.

"But _look at you_! You can't wear white! White is worn to signify virginity and purity, and you, my dearest sister, are none of these things." Nessa proclaimed.

Elphaba flushed; humiliated that she had said that in front of his mother. Fiyero's jaw locked and he had to turn away from the self-satisfied expression of Nessarose in order to prevent her from physical injury. Nanda looked far too shocked to even respond in defence of her preferred colour, and Elphaba sighed heavily. "You know, Nessa, I couldn't give a damn what colour you put me in. As far as most people are concerned I don't look good in anything. So whether white or ivory or bloody purple it isn't going to make that much of a difference."

She stalked off, grabbing her coat and Fiyero followed her.

"Well," Nessa began, feeling put out. "I was only being honest. Elphaba is not one for compliments." Nanda only sighed and moved on to place settings. White place settings.

"Fae, _Fae!_ Wait for me." He called ahead. She turned and stopped, holding her hand out. They walked towards the park. It was a calm and cold day, wonderfully contrasting the madness inside. "I'm sorry about that."

"I don't care about the insult to me. I hate that she judges him." She was talking about their baby. "It isn't his fault."

"It isn't _anyone's _fault, Elphaba." He reminded her with a kiss. She laughed and nodded. They strolled down the street together and were reminded of their first date, walking out of time and chatting away happily. It was only three o'clock, but the late month meant the sun was setting already. The sky was pink and the air was crisp. They could see their breath in wisps of steam as they spoke.

"So much fuss about a marriage." Elphaba commented quietly as they sat on a bench white with frost.

Fiyero put his arms around her and she leaned into his chest. He kissed the crown of her head and felt warmth from her hands entwined with his. "Let's elope."

He felt her twitch. "What?"

"Why don't we just elope?" He repeated.

"You say that as if it was the most normal thing in the entire world." She said, turning to face him. He looked quite serious. "Goodness me, you're . . . . really? Well that came out of nowhere."

"Why not? I don't know why I didn't think of it before!" He asked, looking excited and encouraging her with the wild look in his eyes. "Fae, neither of us want a wedding. It isn't necessary by any royal of governmental traditions. We have our family here, and we could still have a celebration with them afterwards, but they don't need to be there for the marriage itself."

She sat back and searched her mind. Her eyes darted about, not looking at anything. "I want Galinda there." She said, thinking. "And you should ask Evard."

"Sounds perfect." He said. They kissed hotly in the cold air, his hands tangling in her long hair. She moaned happily, pressing their lips together when he held her face. She wounds her arms round his waist, inside his coat, keeping warm.

"Your parents will hate us. They'll be furious."

"Is that regret I hear?"

"Worry. And my father! He's on his way and he . . . oh god he will never forgive me." She looked panicked and flushed, though that could have been from the kiss. She traced her thumb along his cheek lovingly. "We can't . . . we can't Fiyero."

He sighed, disappointment flooding through him. He did not hide it well. "Fae . . ."

"No. Yero, just think of what they're doing for us in there. I just have to suck it up, and so do you. I think you were quite right when you compared it to labour. Except I'll look comparatively less disgusting."

"I think you'll look amazing at both."

"Do you even understand what labour is?" She teased.

They walked back then, resolute in the understanding that it takes a village to marry a couple and that it was about time Elphaba accepted there were some things about having a family that she would dislike as much as she hated not having much of one in the first place.

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><p><em>Press the little blue button and let the reactions flow . . . <em>


	8. The Vizier and the Prince

**_Author's Note: _**_I disclaim! _

_Merry Lurlinemas all, this slightly-extended chapter is my present (though not the only one) to you for this holiday. There were a few points where I was going to stop it for dramatic tension but I thought that would be cruel seeing as it is the season to be you know what. I'm in a very lets-write-lots-of-fiction mood because I'm on holiday now, so expect more frequent updates. _

_Enjoy!_

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><p>"I liked the Horses. I really like them."<p>

Galinda watched her friend carefully. Elphaba was smiling and nodding, a bit too enthusiastically. She looked a little frightening, actually. "Do you honestly?" She begged.

"You know, I really do. Honestly." She answered, looking more genuine now. "I'm sorry, Gal. I'm just a bit nervous. You know . . ." and she rubbed her tummy as an explanation.

It was the night before her marriage to Fiyero. She had agreed to spend it with Galinda as she was solely responsible for how her friend would look on her wedding day, right down to deciding that her dress would be neither ivory nor white. Apparently it would be something in between . . . whatever in Oz that meant.

"Oh Elphie, of course." Galinda hopped off her side of the sofa and sat herself at Elphaba's feet. She frowned sternly at her friend's bump. "Now you listen to me, young man." She joked, making Elphaba laugh. "Your mother doesn't need anymore worries tomorrow than she already has. So be as quiet and calm as possible and we will all enjoy the day," she paused, "alright?"

Elphaba cackled, throwing her head back. "I hope he listens to you."

Galinda had been reined in vis-à-vis the actual ceremony, which would be conducted by a registrar in the Palace though the reception was hardly understated. It would be held in what had been named The Vinkun Chamber after the Royal family and had only recently been restored to some glory by Galinda in her renovation of some of the more neglected wings of the Emerald City Palace. Elphaba had not seen it since her friend had arranged seating and music and the rest, but Fiyero had been on the phone earlier, relating to her that in fact it looked quite beautiful. She missed him tonight.

"I almost wonder what my father will think of the registrar." She wondered aloud.

"Do you care what he thinks of him?" Galinda picked herself up and smoothed her dress, though there were no creases in it. Elphaba crushed her already wrinkled shift in her hands, causing new patterns to break out in the material.

"No. I care what he thinks of his having been asked in the first place."

"Why? You never really have before."

"I never had anything to lose, Galinda." She said. "I don't care enough to change it: I never will. I always did my best to make him love me," she looked into the blonde's blue eyes, "but it had to be on my own terms or it would never be worth it." Galinda understood. She gently took her friend's right hand and began to file her nails. Elphaba sat forward, peering over the girl's work. She always did it so expertly. "Thank you for this, Galinda."

"My pleasure." She murmured. Her eyes were down, concentrating on her task, but Elphaba could see her pearly smile.

"I mean it." Elphaba stopped her. "You're the only friend I've ever had, and I couldn't ever have done any of this without you. We'd have eloped by now on our own."

Galinda laughed, squeezing Elphaba's bony fingers. "Eloping? As if you would ever!" She laughed again, her Gillikin trills filling the room as it used to fill the buttresses at Shiz. Elphaba only wore a knowing smirk. Her silence was more telling than her words. "Elphie . . ." Galinda began hesitantly. They could not have. "You haven't eloped?" She shrieked, snapping her hands away and almost leaping into the air from her seat. Her nail file went flying.

Elphaba leaned back, rather enjoying having sent her friend into frenzy. "And what could be done if we have?" She asked innocently. Galinda gawked and squawked and paced about in front of the sofa. She was almost speechless save her repetitions of Elphaba's words and some she could not make out. They were too high-pitched for human ears. "What difference would it make, really?" Elphaba asked eventually.

"You are far too easy about this! Elphie, now Elphie." She said, seriously. Kneeling at her side, she was prepared to plead to be spared a tease. "You are joking; you are having fun with me. You always do this. Aren't you? You are poking fun for yourself at my expense so you'll have a funny story to tell Master Tiggular in there one day, aren't you?" Elphaba only responded that she rather liked Master Tiggular as an alternative name. "ELPHIE!" She screamed.

Elphaba refused to relent all evening, all night and all morning while she was dressing. It drove Galinda up the walls – which on several occasions was almost a literal fact. From the moment she fell asleep amongst the dozens of plush pink cushions on Galinda's bed to the moment she wore her dress Galinda did not give up on her. Nanda quite enjoyed the lengths to which Elphaba could drive a young woman whom she had only ever seen as calm and reasoned. But Galinda was kept busy enough, however, primping herself and her friend, that her constant appeals for relief did not grate too much on Elphaba's nerves. In fact she acted as a rather wonderful distraction from them.

She did feel sick, but chalked it up to nothing more than being quite so pregnant. Elphaba bemoaned that her bump was not even remotely concealed by her gown, and had to listen to many lectures the topics of which surrounded the attitude that she should carry her baby with pride. Elphaba cut them all down with the angry reminder that she did not need to display it for all to see in order to prove how proud she was of her baby. It was done, and for the best, however.

Elphaba did allow for the dress to be very becoming, though she would not admit that it would not look better on another. Nessarose and Nanda seemed to be equally pleased with the colour. It was made with the finest muslin and overlaid in a delicate lace pattern. The sleeves were long, and to her wrists, and it fell just at her feet, ghosting over the ground where she walked. Galinda had insisted she show some flesh, and so from the top of each arm to the middle point of her chest was the neck line drawn. It was a sweet shape and emphasised the bust she had been given by her pregnancy.

Galinda had set rollers in her hair as she had for the couple's first date, but left it all down this time. "You look so beautiful."

"Stop crying, Galinda." Elphaba said, quietly. She had barely been able to speak once they had arrived. Although it was only across the street until they reached the carriage, it seemed like the longest journey in the world, and since Elphaba refused to be late, and Galinda seemed hell bent on ignoring start times, it was an almighty effort just to get her downstairs. "I will not have this day reduced to dramatics. Save that for your own wedding. I am going to get married right now, whether you are there or not." She turned, picking up the sides of her dress and exiting the house.

"You wait for me, Elphaba Thropp!"

"If you don't hurry up, I won't be Thropp for much longer and you'll be left wondering what happened!" Elphaba shouted across the street.

"Now who's being dramatic? I know exactly how you'll have changed your name, you idiot. How stupid do you think I am?"

"Stupid enough to leave without your flowers!" Elphaba returned, taking gleeful delight in the horror on her friend's face when she realised she had left her bouquet.

"OUT OF MY WAY! GIVE ME THOSE FLOWERS!"

Nanda turned to her soon to be daughter-in-law and wiped a faint sheen of sweat from her brow. "Take a few deep breaths, my dear. Weddings are never an easy task."

"And never eased by a pregnant bride." She said, flushing a little in embarrassment. "She drives me insane, but," she paused, watching Galinda battle with her skirts and compose herself before descending the stairs. "I wouldn't have it any other way I suppose. It's just who she is."

Nanda took the footman's hand and was helped into her seat. "I know the feeling."

When Galinda reached them, she viewed Elphaba with a strained look of fake superiority which shattered immediately when her nervous friend kissed her sweetly on the cheek. Galinda snapped from her mood, dismissed the footman and acted as Elphaba's own aid to get her inside.

Before long, they were in the main streets. A shocked and aghast Elphaba could not believe her eyes when she saw the thousands of people lining the streets with flowers, streamers and wishes on her wedding day. Galinda and Nanda smiled and waved happily, but Elphaba could only bow her head in thanks. It seemed to be enough and heads turned to one another to comment on how sweet it was that the young Vizier was so overwhelmed by their support.

"Elphie, we're here." Galinda whispered. Elphaba felt as though she had been asleep: they must have whizzed through the centre of town. Suddenly, the nerves increased rapidly and Elphaba's tongue was like sandpaper. "It's alright, come on. They won't see you now." She was right on that point at least as they were inside the arches and walls of the Palace.

"Well, thank goodness we're on our own for the next hour or so. I don't think I could handle a crowd and a marriage. Galinda, how in Oz do you manage it?" The blonde only laughed and bent down to smooth out Elphaba's dress. "Alright, let's get this the hell over with." She winked at Galinda and they linked hands as they walked upstairs.

"Fiyero, you ready?" Evard jostled him, ribbing his brother with his elbow. Fiyero was admittedly very calm. He had told Evard that morning that marrying Elphaba did not frighten him because other than having a baby with her, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. This day had been a long time coming, according to him.

"Always have been, and keep your hands and elbows to yourself." Fiyero responded. His whole face was lit up. "Have you seen her?" He asked, avoiding eye contact and eying the doors.

"She's here. She looks beautiful." Minas interjected, stepping forward.

They looked ahead of them and smiled at the registrar. He was an old man and had the look of a philosopher; bearded and suited in coat tails. He was a very pleasant man and had amused Fiyero and calmed Elphaba on the visits they had together prior to the day. The drawing room itself was light and carved with gold leaf. They were fairly high up in the Palace and the vista looked out over the countryside outwith the city, affording them much-desired privacy.

Fine velvet chairs were laid out in seven rows of eight and each one filled with a family member or close friend. Fifty-six guests in all despite the fact that Elphaba had demanded a _small wedding._ Fiyero was more nervous about her reaction when the doors opened than her ability to get through the ceremony.

He turned again to glance behind just in time to see an usher give the nod that would mean the commencement of the service. "Here we go." He muttered quietly. Evard heard and they shared a very excited smile.

Elphaba had made it up the many flights of stairs with only a few curse words escaping her lips in anger at being made to do so much exercise when pregnant. "I need to have another bloody shower." She griped, but it seemed playfully, and nobody continued the topic.

Nessarose kissed her cheek and wished her well before she took her place inside. "It sounds busy in there, Galinda." Elphaba said, her face sharp and eyebrow raised.

"Well, naturally it would be busy wouldn't it? It's your wedding day." Elphaba grabbed her wrist and waited. Galinda giggled falsely. "Elphaba, now really? You've _eloped, _ and there are _a few more_ people in there than you wanted." She stood to her full height and looked her almost furious friend right in her eyes. "Weddings are bound to have a few ups and downs, are they not?"

"You conniving little minx." Elphaba sneered. "This is _my_ wedding, or had you not noticed?" Galinda tossed her hair, though it had little effect as she had pinned it up. "Please Oz Galinda, don't put me in a mood like this before I see Fiyero."

Galinda softened quickly. "Sorry Elphie. There's only fifty-six."

"_What?"_ Elphaba hissed. "Galinda, for Oz' sake. _Fifty-six?" _She felt a little winded, and Nanda had to intervene with a few kind words to prevent Elphaba turning her best friend into a dust mite.

"Why did you tell her that now? She would not have been able to tell when she came in." Nanda asked, bewildered at the girl's behaviour.

"Yes she would: she's Elphaba. She can do that sort of thing. I always thought she would have had an excellent career in society had she wished it." Galinda said proudly.

"Oh yes, because that is what is important, my dear. Be thankful she is about to see my son, or your days would be numbered." Nanda warned. Galinda frowned, unsure she agreed with the Queen's reasoning. "We must go in now, my dear. I shall send your father out. My husband tells me he has so far made no fuss about the registrar." Elphaba nodded and Galinda felt a pang of guilt when she could not catch her eye before she left the foyer.

"Elphaba."

The green girl looked up at the sound of her father's voice. He was dressed in his Governor's garb and admittedly looked smart and proud. She did not care if he himself was proud, not at that moment. "Hello."

He looked at her a second or two. "You look like your Mother today."

Elphaba thought it was the closest she would come to a compliment from him, but had to concede it was the best thing anyone had said to her. "Thank you."

"She was very beautiful." He continued, offering his arm and having it accepted. They did not look at one another.

"I remember." He turned a little to her then, but nothing else was said before the doors swung open and Elphaba found herself faced with the most mortifying part of the day. Or she hoped it was: she could not envisage coping with anything more embarrassing than this. Every single head was staring at her in all her baby glory.

She felt him move. Flip, and flip again in her tummy. She groaned. _Where is Fiyero? Find him, concentrate on him. You'll be fine, then._ She focused on their destination at the head of the aisle and clocked him. His mouth was open a little and he watched her like everyone else, but there was a cheeky smirk in his eyes that made her want to laugh.

The triumvirate knew somewhere in the crowd stood Oscar. He had asked and been granted permission to attend as himself. No one in the crowd would identify him. Galinda saw from the corner of her eye how he tried to peer over the heads of those in front of him to glimpse his daughter. It broke her heart a little.

Frexspar dutifully handed Elphaba to Fiyero and stepped back. He looked slightly overwhelmed, but calm. Fiyero kissed his fiancées hand and winked at her.

"There are fifty-six people here today, Fiyero." Elphaba whispered as the registrar greeted and welcomed them and began the service.

"I swear I had no idea."

"Galinda now has a price on her head. Bidding starts at one hundred thousand." Fiyero suppressed a laugh while Elphaba merely turned hers into a brilliant and glorious smile.

The moment where they became husband and wife came swiftly and without too much discomfort for either party, though Elphaba desperately wanted to sit down. First was Fiyero for which she was very grateful.

"Fiyero, repeat these lines." The registrar took a breath and the groom steadied his voice. Clear enough to be audible and quiet enough to be sincere. "I, Prince Fiyero Tiggular of the Vinkus, as a free and conscious man, pledge myself to you, Miss Elphaba Thropp of Munchkinland, Vizier of Oz."

Fiyero repeated the lines as well as he could. He suddenly felt quite nervous and his heart was thundering in his ears. He continued and placed the wedding band on her finger: "I take you as my wife and promise to love and cherish you all the rest of my days."

Elphaba smiled and squeezed his hand when she saw his eyes glisten with tears. She gave him a warning look that he had better not cry. It would look ridiculous if he did, and she did not. A pregnant bride, who had no emotional reaction to her husband's profession of love. Very soon, she was asked to repeat the words, too.

"I, Miss Elphaba Thropp of Munchkinland, Vizier of Oz, as a free and conscious woman, pledge myself to you, Prince Fiyero Tiggular of the Vinkus. I take you as my husband and promise to love and cherish you for the rest of my days." She breathed, slipping the band on his finger. "And then some." Fiyero laughed, along with the registrar and a few members of the front row including a thrilled Galinda.

Raising his voice, the registrar moved back a semi-step and addressed the room. "By the power vested in me, of the land of Oz, I pronounce you husband and wife." He touched Fiyero's arm and smiled. "You may kiss the bride."

_Oh Oz. _Elphaba thought. But Fiyero shoved the worry from her mind and kissed her well but chastely in front of the applauding crowd even to the point where she grinned hugely and Fiyero opened his eyes to see hers bright with joy.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you, too."

They turned to the crowd to leave, and Elphaba accepted her bouquet from an amusingly tearful Galinda. "Congratulations, Mrs Tiggular." She said, sniffing and laughing in equal measures. "That sounds so perfect, Elphie." Elphaba touched her cheek and they exchanged a forgiving kiss, before she walked out arm in arm with her husband.

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><p><em>I thought it should be Galinda who got to congratulate them first. Have a Merry Christmas! *kisses*<em>


	9. The Best Day of Her Life

**_Author's Note: _**_I disclaim. Also, it occured to me that the name Oscar Diggs was not my own original creation and I cannot remember where or when I read it used first. SO if you know, or think it's yours, just message me and I will credit you._

_Merry Lurlinemas to you all! Hope the holiday has brought all the joy and happiness it promised and that you are stuffed so full of food you can barely stay awake :D_

_Here is my nice long chapter for you all! Essentially the wedding, part two!_

_Enjoy and review, please! _

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><p>Galinda was thrilled with how the day was progressing so far, and as she and the newly united families stood in a drawing room adjacent to the Vinkun Chamber many people came and congratulated her for her arrangement. It did nothing to ease her worries, however, and she wrung out her hands nervously in anticipation of the reaction of the newlyweds.<p>

There was quite a large bunch of people here, and yet only the first four rows had been occupied by family members and therefore had emptied into the private rooms. The rest had been shepherded into the Vinkun Chamber to await the arrival of the family and then the couple themselves. Galinda paled at the thought of how many now began to fill that grand room. There were evenings guests also to arrive after dinner.

"You needn't fret, Miss Upland." A familiar voice whispered to her confidently. She turned to her right to see the happy face of Lord Hills and her expression must have been one of surprise, as he then said: "I must have egg on my face indeed."

She shook herself. "Oh no, indeed not! I'm sorry sir, but no amount of praise from our guests – as wonderful as they are," and he bowed humorously, "will make me feel any better about the number of the congregation until I hear it from the lips of my Elphie."

"Ah, not the groom then?" He asked, curiously.

"Oh no, for who cares about him on a day like this?" Her remark was funny, and they laughed until Lord Hills gestured to the place where the couple had been receiving well wishes from their new family. It was one less now, as Elphaba made her way to Galinda. "Oh dear me." She said, shaking a little.

"I would not worry if I were you. Though I admit I do not know the Good Vizier as well as you, I sense she is far too happy to let a room full of people spoil it." He said, before disappearing back into the crowd.

Elphaba stood next to her friend and gazed into her eyes. She could not speak, however, before Galinda launched into a desperate and apologetic speech. "Oh Elphie, I'm sorry! Please don't be angry at me! Please don't! I didn't mean for it to get that big and there were just people that had to be invited. I know you wanted a small wedding but you're a public figure now and there are certain expectations – and I know that shouldn't matter on such an intimate occasion but I'm afraid it does now and I really just wanted everyone in the whole country to look back on this day with happy thoughts and that's why I just couldn't cut the list I just could –"

"Shut up Galinda." Elphaba said, simply interrupting her, kissing her once and hugging her as tightly as she could in the single most glorious embrace Galinda had ever had. "I love you, you silly thing." She heard her friend sniff, and pulled back to see tears threatening. "Now, no tears." She warned. "Fiyero's already breaking that promise to me and I know you won't, my dear." Galinda nodded and smiled, though it was a lopsided one. "It was wonderful, Galinda. I can't wait to celebrate the rest. You're right, you know, about it being a day for everyone. I wouldn't keep quiet about this for the world. I'm so happy."

Fiyero came upon them then, obviously sore from having to be happy from his new wife for so long. He kissed her hair and thanked Galinda, too. "My parents want to speak to us, Fae." He said, addressing her sweetly and taking her hands.

"Well of course they do." She kissed Galinda on the cheek, told her to go and enjoy the day and they left to stand at the side of Nanda and Minas. "You wanted to see us?"

Minas grinned. "Well my dear, we must address your title, mustn't we?" He said with barely controlled glee. Elphaba and Fiyero exchanged confused looks.

"I already have one, do I not?" Elphaba interjected, meaning Vizier of Oz. "I don't understand."

Nanda touched her daughter's cheek tenderly. "Not your sole title in government, my dear. Your title as a part of this family." Elphaba took a deep breath.

"Oh."

Fiyero inched slightly closer to her. "Well? I assume if you've called us over you must have decided what it will be."

"Not necessarily, Fiyero. Maybe they wanted to discuss it?" Elphaba offered, but her husband shook his head.

"No, surely not. Mam you'd never choose an inopportune moment to _discuss _something like this." Fiyero joked, kissing Elphaba in consolation.

Nanda nodded and held her hand in the air to quiet her son and daughter-in-law. "Now, now, do you two ever stop talking?" Elphaba winked at Fiyero, the reference having a special meaning on that particular day. "As it happens we have decided on your title, my love, and chose this moment to inform you because it consists of part of gift to you as a married couple and because I should think Galinda would like to use it to announce you." Elphaba waited, her heart picking up pace as she grew a little excited about what it would be.

Minas cleared his throat and stole a glance at the Queen as if asking permission to be the one next to speak. Elphaba found that a very sweet thing. "We have decided that as of today, the day you joined our family officially, your title will be Princess Elphaba Tiggular, Vizier of Oz."

Elphaba had to concentrate to swallow. She felt the need to smile and to act grateful and appreciative. She was of course very happy to be honoured in such a way, but she could not help but feel she was being weighed down with responsibilities she did not wish to have. "Thank you." She croaked. Her eyes were unwilling to make eye contact. Elphaba very much disliked having to hide her feelings from her new in-laws not an hour into their new relationship.

"Oh my dear, look at you!" Nanda rejoiced, mistaking Elphaba's fear for gratitude which was preferable to the truth. She wrapped her arms around her, and she and the King planted a kiss on each cheek before moving on to greet some knights of their realm hovering nobly in the corner.

"Well, I'll have to start calling you my Princess now, won't I?" Fiyero said. He leaned in and kissed her a moment or two. He wore a big smile on his face that Elphaba hoped concealed as much worry as hers did.

"I'd prefer if you didn't, Fiyero." Elphaba said, unsure of how much of herself to reveal at that point. Of course she was not quite as good at hiding herself from him as she used to be, but on a day like this she hoped he was too distracted by the occasion to notice much. Her voice was too high and it broke when she spoke.

"Oh don't worry." He took her hands and moved closer until their faces were an inch apart. "You'll always be Fae to me." She forgot about her problem then, as their lips touched once, twice, three times. He looked into her eyes and she smiled. "Don't worry about it, my darling. Your job is here, it's just a title."

She sighed, a little embarrassed and he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I love you, Yero." She said quietly. Recently, she had only used it when they were alone or sometimes when they were with Galinda. He liked that: a private affectionate name that was only for his ears.

Galinda suddenly rushed over to them and in a flurry of movement Elphaba and Fiyero found themselves moved in many different directions so that their photograph might be taken. The drawing room was situated on the first floor, above the Vinkun Chamber and there was a wide and beautifully decorated balcony onto which the wedding party was stood. They could hear exclamations from the windows of Ozians lucky enough to have houses that looked onto the Palace as this room faced the city.

Elphaba was glad to find that she and Fiyero were allowed to sit down: her pregnancy was beginning to get the better of her by that point and she found herself growing more and more exhausted by the incessant requests for photos.

"Oh for Oz' sake! Why must you take so many of the same picture? Surely you prepared for the lighting in this room? Can't we stop, Galinda?" She begged her friend, who looked on her sadly and gently explained that it would not take much longer. There was a pause whilst they brought in and arranged Fiyero's brothers and sisters, who thankfully cheered Elphaba up with their sweetness and general good behaviour.

Fiyero leaned back slightly and signalled for Galinda to stoop forward so he could whisper in her ear. "Elphaba's exhausted, Glin." She nodded. "How much longer is this going to go on? I really don't think she'll last. She's been so tired. I'll bet she didn't sleep much last night."

"Well I wouldn't know. I slept like a log." She tossed her hair. "Probably about half an hour?"

"What? For goodness' sake, she'll collapse before then."

"She's sitting down!" Galinda insisted.

"Galinda. You know she doesn't like things like this on a normal day. Now, she's just been told that she's going to be given the title of Princess-"

"What? Oh my-!"

"_Shut up!"_ He hissed. "She's been given that title by my parents and she is already slightly stressed over the responsibility of it. She's eight months pregnant and she's going to kill you if _he_ keeps taking innumerable shots of the same picture!"

"She said she was happy not a few moments ago" Galinda protested, as they smiled to the camera for another shot, and heard Elphaba sigh next to them.

"Of course she's happy, but it's very draining." Galinda knew he was right and could hear only too well the worry that caused his words to catch in his throat. "I'm just warning you, I'll stop this if I think it's too much for her." Elphaba took his hand then, and when he turned towards her he almost gasped at how tired she looked. "Are you alright, love?" He asked gently, worried that she looked like she hadn't slept in a few days.

She barely even replied, and he had to prompt her again. She would have to do better than that with him. No pretending she was fine if she was not. "Really, Yero, I'm alright. The baby's stretching and he's in the birthing position so it's more than a little uncomfortable."

"You know, that makes me really quite excited." He paused, placing a hand on the top of her bump. "Birthing position, eh? Means it's not long, you know?"

She nodded, her face solemn and drawn. "I do know."

"We won't be much longer here, I promise."

She eyed him. "Do you?" He hesitated. "It's alright. At least I'm sitting."

Elphaba called on every scrap of patience and every calm nerve she could muster to get her through the final set of photographs. What actually improved her mood and energy significantly was that for the final fifteen minutes, she was alone with Galinda and Fiyero. They made her laugh and relax and as every other guest was required to be seated by that time, they were free to fool around and say what they liked. The photographer certainly got an earful.

"Alright, Elphie, these ones are just you and your lovesick husband so I want to see some kissing! GO!" She cackled, throwing her head back.

"Galinda, you and I are spending too much time together." Elphaba observed as she and Fiyero gazed obliquely at her. Galinda giggled a little. "Ah, the world makes sense again." She said.

"Oh come on! Fiyero, kiss her!" As he was bidden, but very sweetly, he brought her in for a kiss and satisfied the melting heart of Galinda. "Oh, that was a beautiful one. You should put it in the nursery . . above the baby's bed!"

Elphaba stared down her best friend. "No." She said, simply. Galinda scoffed at her and they happily sped through the rest of the pictures. They managed to keep Elphaba's spirits up meaning that she was both looking forward to the reception and that she and Fiyero had taken some wonderful shots that showed them laughing and talking as naturally as ever. The Vinkun Chamber was the floor below them and led out onto the Palace gardens. To enter it, they would come in onto a mezzanine and then descend a flight of wide white stairs with a sweeping turn in them that gave the whole area that sense of decadence and grandeur. It was equalled by the intricate cornicing, mirrors and soft marble floors. When Galinda entered she was introduced for the first time as Lady Glinda, the Good.

Elphaba smiled and sighed. "That's lovely. A perfect title for her. Who bestowed it, Oscar?" She asked, whispering in Fiyero's ear as they stood patiently behind the doors. They stood slightly ajar and the couple had to wait for silence to fall after Galinda had taken her seat. Both were actually quite nervous and clung to one another for support.

"Yes, but I don't think he's given us any more of those." He replied, smirking.

"Oh thank Oz. I believe Mrs Tiggular, Vizier of Oz and Princess Elphaba are quite enough, thank you very much." Elphaba steadied her nerves when she saw the doors inch open and she plastered a sedate but grateful smile on her face. They were announces and cheers and applause rose from the crowd below, whom they could see had come to their feet to welcome them. Elphaba's smile slowly became sincere when she saw her little sister and her father, both joining in with the glad occasion. "Oh my." She breathed, and Fiyero laughed, nodding to some distant cousins he had not seen since they were all in school together. He looked forward to speaking to them later.

Elphaba saw no such faces. They were all new to her, save her own immediate family, Galinda and the Wizard. Oscar sat at Galinda's table. She remembered they had discussed shoving him somewhere at the back, but did not trust his ability to keep his own temporary identity and so had to settle for sharing their conversation with him. Most guests had by that point assumed the Wizard was in attendance in the form of a human man, and since they knew so little of the figure of Oscar, they had decided it was him. None, however, were brave enough to voice this thought to him or his government, though they certainly discussed it amongst themselves.

Before long, they had take their seats and the ushers begged silence for the speeches. As was custom, the father of the bride would toast his son-in-law, the father of the groom would toast his daughter-in-law and the groom would thank the family and friends, as well as his wife. Then it was only the Best Man left to address the crowd and the couple and make everyone laugh: this was Evard's role. Though Elphaba was nervous about her father speaking, he really put her fears to rest.

"I know there is one person whom my daughter would want to be here more than anyone. The woman who would make her happier than if this and ten thousand more rooms were filled with people: my wife, and my girls' mother, Melena. She would have been very proud of you, Elphaba. I know I am." He said at one point, with great sincerity and pause. Elphaba did not cry, but Galinda and most other guests more than made up for her. Elphaba only sat there in bewilderment and with a slight sense of gratitude. She was forced to look away from her father to soften the fact that she did not shed any tears.

Of course, Minas' speech was wonderful and served to satisfy the ancient grandparents and uncles and aunts who felt they deserved to be individually thanked for their little significance within the family. He made a beautiful reference to his newest daughter. "There is no end to my and my wife's respect and love for her. Even when she was first mentioned in relation to our son, we could feel there was something special about her. She has brought new meaning and love into Fiyero's life, and together with him they will welcome in the next generation of children." Elphaba patted her tummy. "I for one cannot wait to meet my grandchild. I know without a shadow of a doubt that he or she will be a favourite addition to our family." He finished by raising a glass to a blushing Elphaba.

Fiyero then took his turn, equally and happily thanking both his father-in-law and his own father. He also spent about five full minutes talking about Galinda and praising her until he was blue in the face and Galinda's beautiful little face was stained and shining with tears. His speech was short and sweetly worded, especially when he spoke on behalf of and about Elphaba. "I'm sure we haven't been at all subtle about it, but I would like to say for the record that she is the love of my life." Elphaba was very proud of him: he spoke so easily and said such loving things about her to a room full of people whose opinions obviously mattered to him. When he finished they shared a kiss, and she touched his face tenderly as she had not been allowed to do that day they recued the lion cub.

"For those of you who don't know it, I am now going to relate to you the story of our dear couple's courtship up to this point." Elphaba rolled her eyes as the entire room sat up eagerly: no one really knew how they had come to be with one another, other than hearsay and what they might have learned through dubious stories in the newspapers. "Fiyero and Elphaba met whilst they were in first year at Shiz University." He said, with a cheeky gleam in his eye. Elphaba was ready to kill him should he reveal something too mortifying. She thought through the most subtle spells for pain. "Now initially, our handsome young prince here was dating the lovely Miss Galinda Upland." The crowd 'ooohed' and laughed and looked at the now pink face of Galinda Upland. "But for reasons which I have been told were _entirely _mutual, they parted ways and Fiyero became attached to our Elphaba." Elphaba breathed a very small sigh of relief. "Our family first heard of Elphaba in letters Fiyero had sent to us. She had been tutoring him, apparently, although I'm wondering if much of his lessons comprised of anything academic."

"Fiyero's grades grew steadily more and more impressive, until he gave his tutor an ultimatum: if he could achieve a higher mark than she on their next assignment then as a prize she would have to go on a date with him." The crowd 'awwed.' "I asked my dear sister about this, because as it turned out our Fiyero did indeed get a better mark than her. This I found utterly impossible to believe. So I went to Elphaba and demanded an explanation. Was she ill that week? Did she simply not enjoy the topic? I just could not accept that he had been more adept at answering his question than she was at answering hers. Eventually, my dear sister took my hand and explained that by that point she had found herself quite seriously in love with her student." Fiyero turned around to look at Elphaba, who only smiled seriously. "And so when he said 'If you lose, I want a date with you' Elphaba decided to deliberately lessen the quality of her essay so she might spend one evening with him without the pretence of studying."

Elphaba was relieved was her husband turned to kiss her: she had been worried he would be angry because he thought he had beaten her. As if he ever would. "I feel there is no other story I could tell you all that would more perfectly relate the sweetness and passion which defines this young couple. On the night of that date, Fiyero and Elphaba made the choice to see one another again and again . . . and not long after they were a publicised couple. Ever since then and I do not doubt that forever after, they will be together. Though my brother can sometimes be a complete delinquent, I'm sure he'll take care of you. If he doesn't just tell me and I'll make him pay for it, sis." Elphaba nodded. "I'm proud to call you my sister, and I'm proud of my brother for recognising what an incredible woman you are." Evard toasted them, and Elphaba rose from her seat to kiss him.

The rest of the evening passed so very well. Relative upon relative came to introduce themselves and the couple were overjoyed to have been so easily slotted into the family. Galinda saw the fruits of her labour ripen beautifully and no guest left without congratulating her on her arrangements. Elphaba did not much like social engagements, but this was so far from the boring and nerve-wracking parties she had attended so far as Vizier. It was just family and good friends, music, food and entertainment. The baby even behaved himself nicely and only seemed to move when Elphaba would invite a hand to her tummy to feel the presence of her child. Elphaba did not have a moment to recognise how tired she was, and as she fell asleep that night in her husband's arms, she mumbled sleepily that it was the best day of her life.

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><p><em>Bless them. And now imagine that your review is your Lurlinemas present to me that I have waited for all year and cannot wait to open! :D<em>


	10. Of Media and Maternity

**_Author's Note: _**_I disclaim. I also want to thank Bubble for pointing out that it was Maguire who used Oscar Diggs for the wizard's real name. Thank you!_

_Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year! Here's your next update . . . bit of a cliffhanger, albeit an expected one *smiles*_

_Enjoy!_

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><p>"<em>And in your opinion Lady Galinda, have your measures to assimilate the Animals back into their communities - such as the initial retraction of the Animal Banns, the abolishment of the concentration camps, the new Equality Regulations, have these efforts made any positive difference, or indeed any difference at all?"<em>

Elphaba and Fiyero sat together on their sofa. The fire was lit, a bright, warm glow in the centre of the room that was otherwise filled with white morning light. It was the second day of their marriage and they had been left in blissful solitude since the moment they stepped over the threshold. Fiyero's hand drummed rhythms out on Elphaba's tummy, and he was caught regularly daydreaming, his eyes fixed happily on her.

They had decided to do absolutely nothing for the duration of their little honeymoon. Galinda had worked out that they could afford one week out of work, and Elphaba had ensured her own personal load was reduced to within the best of her abilities. She would not have been able to enjoy any time off knowing there was a massive pile of paperwork to file and a host of acrimonious citizens to calm down. She would not be in the Palace for much longer even once she returned. Eight and half months of her pregnancy had already passed, and even though she would work until the last possible day, not many more of those existed.

They were watching Galinda on public television. The image was grainy and grey but the Lady's beauty and calmness was visible even to them. It was an interview scheduled to promote Animal tolerance and to inform the public of the progress of their investigations and assimilation programmes. It was being broadcast in public houses, libraries, on the radio and into the houses of those fortunate enough to be able to afford a television. Transcripts would be printed in the evening papers.

"_Well, there are areas of progress and areas that have been more taxing. Those who had been bussed in as replacements for the _missing _Animals have had to be removed from their positions and re-distributed, which has been difficult to say the least. Not everyone has been very obliging. What we are focusing on now is education. The Racism we have encountered is very deeply ingrained into certain factions of our society. We intend to start in the homes and schools. Although, to give Oz some credit, there are many people appalled by what has been going on, who have been too scared to speak out previously, and who are now activists for the Animal cause."_

Elphaba smiled proudly at her friend's performance. She emanated power and yet maintained her normality. She seemed approachable to regular people. Elphaba had developed her own persona, too. People were less likely to feel they could speak to her without being spoken to, which she preferred. But they respected and trusted her. If there was an issue at hand, no matter how old the cover-up and no matter who was involved, she could be counted on to find out the victimised party and bring the matter to a resolution. Much of her work revolved around personal pleas regarding Animal discrimination. And she certainly called on her magic more than once to aide her investigations.

Galinda continued.

"_The fundamental problem, of course, is trust. Animals are now very unwilling to re-enter society – particularly in the EC or Shiz – because they feel the prejudices remain rife and because they are not satisfied that their safety is guaranteed. Frankly, they have good reason to be afraid as I know there are still many prejudiced people in Oz. Realistically; we know that we may never rid this land entirely of those unfriendly towards other species. But our attitude is if there is one Animal against whom discrimination is brought, it is one Animal too many. We would like to take this opportunity to speak directly to those who are in hiding or those unsure of whether or not they and their families can live in safety in central and urban Oz. Let us tell you that the law and the police are behind you. You have the full protection and support of the state. Please take advantage of those institutions set up to aid you: the Citizens' Charity Counsel, the Bureau for Criminal Investigation, and the Embassies for each of the four corners of Oz. My colleague, Vizier Thropp, has also convened a committee and task force specifically designed for this issue called The Animal Rehabilitation Corps which also has a telephone helpline and has set up several safe centres for fleeing Animals. She works with this group personally to help achieve its goals."_

Elphaba was touched. She was more than pleased that Galinda had chosen to use 'Vizier' as opposed to Princess. Of course, she was an intelligent woman herself, so she would have known that the latter name would not help her to appear powerful in anyone's eyes.

"_And what about the military then? They have been the perpetrators of some of the most horrific crimes against Animals. They have tortured and made dust of thousands of innocent people, and now you say that they may be treated as a body of help?"_

Galinda met and equalled the reporter's stern and angry gaze.

"_Those responsible for such crimes have been found and imprisoned and will be brought to trial within thirty days."_

"_The Emerald City Trials?"_

"_The Oz Trials." _She corrected her. _"We wanted to relate it to the whole land, though the trials themselves will be held in the EC. The Army is not now led nor does it consist of any of the previous criminals who committed crimes against Animals, thanks to the work and effort of Prince Fiyero Tiggular. He has personally interviewed each and every faction of the military to ensure they can carry out their duties according to the new laws and regulations. Since we do not currently have any need for an Army on Alert, most battalions have gone into re-education and are helping with the rehabilitation and protection of the Animal Community. We give you our personal word that the Army can be fully trusted."_

Fiyero was faintly proud of the steps he had taken to improve their military situation. Because they were not under much threat of war or attack he could afford to disband many of the Garrisons and put them into training in an attempt to smoke out the worst and most dangerous attitudes. He was intelligent enough to recognise which soldiers should be kept together and which should be separated. At least one hundred and fifty so far had to be charged and imprisoned for crimes again humanity, and that was only in the lowest ranks. Most Generals and Officers were disciplined, too. However, faith in their police and protective forces was slowly being restored. Fiyero worked immensely hard at his job: he wanted his wife and his son to be proud of him.

This thought caused him to feel a surge of affection, and he nuzzled Elphaba until she turned around and kissed him. "What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" She asked, pinching his chin, though she knew exactly why he seemed so wonderfully happy.

"It's our honeymoon, I love you. Need I explain myself, really?"

"Ha, I guess not. You do have a point."

He pressed himself against her a little more. She smiled mischievously against his tongue. "Oh I love it when you tell me I'm right."

Her eyes sparkled. "Mmm, you're _always_ right, my love." She nibbled on his bottom lip, tugging and teasing gently. Elphaba felt her heart racing, her arms moving of their own accord around his neck and pulling him down, down into her embrace. They had to stop. "Fiyero, darling, you know this is dangerous. I don't want to get too excited." Fiyero nodded. At their last appointment Doctor Than had warned them that the physical excitement caused by sex could send Elphaba into labour.

"Excuse me, who said anything about you?" He was joking, winking at her. "I know, I just can't help myself." Elphaba sighed. "This might come in handy if the baby's late."

"Yes, it will. But let's wait until the due date, please. If you don't mind I would like to carry him full term. A premature birth is not really something that would ease the birthing process for either of us."

They heard a round of applause coming from the television. Galinda had been very well received.

"_We would like to ask a few questions about your fellow rulers, Prince Fiyero Tiggular and Princess Elphaba Tiggular, Vizier of Oz, if you don't mind?"_

The interviewer's eyes lit up, and her eagerness for this topic was visible even through the roughness of the picture. Her previous solemnity had all but disappeared.

"_Not at all."_

"_It was a wonderful wedding." _She prompted. The camera focused on Galinda, whose expression was as bright as the yellow flames that whipped and cracked in the fireplace.

"_It was, and it was carried off beautifully. I am aware the public did not see much of the actual ceremony but you may have my personal assurance that it was simply the most glorious half hour of my life. Prince Fiyero's face was a picture when he saw Elphaba, she looked beautiful"_

"Oh, don't tell them that, Galinda!" Elphaba shouted at the screen. Fiyero puckered up dramatically and leaned on her until she almost fell from the sofa trying to avoid him and his wet lips. "Yero!"

"_She did look very beautiful, and tomorrow morning we shall publish the official photographs so you can see for yourselves."_

"Oh I forgot, they're sending out those photos tomorrow." Elphaba sighed. "She was on the phone to me at six o'clock this morning asking me to choose. I told her to bugger off."

"Why were you even up?"

"I wasn't, she woke me. She said she assumed I wouldn't mind and that she thought I'd be up with baby anyway. I hastened to remind her that he has not actually been born yet. I can sleep when he is awake." She said unnecessarily.

"As if she wouldn't have just chosen whatever one she liked anyway. And may I ask why I was not consulted on this?"

"Well, you just looked so very peaceful, drooling on the pillow as you do." She joshed, punching his shoulder. "Actually I really didn't want to wake you up and I couldn't be bothered to bother you. It isn't really important. I won't be looking at them. Galinda said she's chosen three of us."

"Oh do tell me which ones!" He said, with playful fake excitement, sitting up on his knees and grinning like an idiot. It made Elphaba laugh.

"One with the wedding party, one of the two of us standing, and one close-up shot will fly their way out to the papers at midnight tonight." She confirmed with a bit of a grimace. It was a front, though. Elphaba just knew that if she admitted how proud she was of herself, Galinda would never leave her alone. Give an inch, take a mile.

"I can hardly wait to see them." He sealed his words with a kiss.

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><p>A month went by far too quickly for Elphaba's liking. She worked herself to the bone as much as she could, but still imagined she would not be able to stay away from her desk after the baby was born. She loved her work. With every Animal she helped it allowed her to feel less guilty about the fact that Oscar Diggs remained safely ensconced in the palace.<p>

She loved her baby even more than she could ever explain in words or pictures. She found herself speaking and singing to him when she worked; she would explain cases to him and would often allow that he had come up with the most effective solutions. He was going to be a very intelligent boy, like his father. He was going to be handsome, like his father. He was going to fight for the innocent, like both his parents and their friends.

Even if he was not any of these things, who cared? She loved him anyway.

She was becoming more emotional by the day, too. Fiyero would talk to the baby every day, every moment he could get. He would pop in on her at least every two hours when she was working. Once, this would have annoyed Elphaba, but it made it heart swell now. She never admitted that to Fiyero, although he knew it to be true. At night, he kissed them both before they slept and in the morning he kissed them both, too. She would find him in the nursery sometimes, making adjustments to the crib, painting the panels, installing lamps and furniture that he had built himself.

On her last day of work she discovered him doing just that when she returned home. He knelt on the floor, frowning slightly as he painted an intricate pattern around the door. It was quite beautiful. She hoped he had heard her when she walked along the hallway; she would hate to frighten him and ruin the design. "Yero?" She began, as softly as she could.

He turned his head with a bright smile, keeping his hands very still indeed: thank goodness, she hadn't given him a shock. "Welcome home, my love. How are you?" He asked, dropping his stance at the door and planting sweet kisses on her lips. Playfully, he painted a dot of paint on her nose. "Beautiful." He observed.

"Ah, yes. I look like a fantasy animal from one of those Lurlinist fairytales, now. Just what I need." She was joking, though, and he laughed, allowing her to flick the brush on his own nose so they matched. "I'm very tired, and very excited. I hope he isn't late. I am not looking forward to a long lying-in period before he arrives."

"He has you for a mother. He'll do what he damn well pleases, and screw everyone else." He winked at her.

"Oh Oz. You had better not." She warned her largely rounded tummy. Her gentle patting contradicted her tone.

"He'll probably come out writing his dissertation."

"Yeah, or maybe he'll be gelling back his hair and staring at himself in the mirror." She retorted. Fiyero just kissed her and led her into their bedroom by the hand.

"Come on, darling. It's late, you're tired. We'll go to bed. Unless you're hungry?"

"No. I couldn't eat. Leaving today made me slightly nervous. I hated the car ride; I felt like I was going to go into labour halfway home."

He stopped in the middle of selecting a fresh nightgown for her. "Because you had pains or because you were scared?" He asked, his heart racing a little. He gripped a white cotton dress until his knuckles where a similar shade.

"Because I was scared, Yero. Calm down." He relaxed. "Though you know I've had pains before."

"I do." He admitted, laying the same dress he had crumpled in her hands so she could unfold it. He moved behind her and began unbuttoning her shift. He happily concentrated on the joy he got when she let him take off her clothes, even in a non-sexual context. As he undid each button her skin revealed itself to him. Playfully, he kissed her neck and her shoulders.

She smirked. "I love you, darling." She said simply. He was being romantic. After years of being with him, she could always tell immediately the difference between a kiss which would lead to more and a kiss of simple affection. She winced a little when he opened the clasp on her brassiere; her breasts ached.

"I'm sorry, are they sore?"

"Sensitive, very sensitive." She whispered. He let go of the offending item and placed his hands on her waist, lifting the dress and letting it fall to the floor. She removed the brassiere herself and tossed it to the side. Her shoulders were a little hunched, braced to protect her breasts in case she accidentally touched them. Fiyero lifted the nightgown over her head and it swiftly covered her up again. "Thanks, Yero." She said.

She kissed his cheek and walked into the bathroom. Fiyero heard her run the tap and brush her teeth. He watched her shadow move about: it covered a large portion of the floor. It was almost as though a fairly sizeable dresser was dragging itself from the sink to the towel rack and back again, he observed amusingly. He finished the thought and went to brush his own teeth as Elphaba pulled herself heavily onto the bed and sighed when she leaned into the pillows.

Her brow knit when the sound of Fiyero humming reached her from the bathroom. She wondered for a moment what song it was. She let her eyes close and her mind float to whatever memory would let her remember where she had heard the melody before. Elphaba's mind travelled back days, months and years. It occurred to her then: it was the song that had been playing on their first date, when they had kissed.

She sat very still and soon she felt apart from her skin, as if she had risen above her own body. She listened to Fiyero's singing and could hear the musicians. She fantasised a little more and her mind's eye saw Fiyero dancing with her. His lips were pink and she saw them moving: he had been talking to her. No, he had been flirting with her.

The music grew louder. She saw his lips moving toward her, he was kissing her. She _felt _him kissing her. Opening her eyes, she came back to herself and knew that Fiyero had sat beside her on the bed. She kissed him back.

"That was lovely." She breathed. Fiyero pecked the tip of her nose and drew the covers up to her waist. He moved around the bed, opening one of the doors to the balcony slightly and pulling the curtains to. It twirled and danced a little in the breeze.

As he tucked himself into bed, a thought occurred to Fiyero. "Elphie, my mother called the house today and told me she'd be here tomorrow at eleven. She said you'd asked her early for lunch, and my father'll join us at dinner, is that right? He's coming to the Palace in the morning I know that much." He finished. "Elphie?" He asked again, hoping he wouldn't have to repeat himself.

"Mhmm."

He turned to her. She was barely awake. "Sorry." He whispered. He placed a goodnight kiss on her forehead and waited a second to see the corners of her mouth turn up slightly in pleasure.

A full minute of sleep passed, to the point where Elphaba was drifting into a wonderfully refreshing rest, before the dull pain in her lower back suddenly flared. Her hand flew to her hips, her eyes snapped open and she silenced a gasp. The pain intensified and her pelvic muscles seemed to completely seize up. She growled in discomfort.

"_Fuck!"_ She hissed in alarm.

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><p><em>So here he comes then, eh? *winks*<em>


	11. A healthy, perfect, lovely, little

**_Author's Note: _**_I disclaim!_

_In a fanfiction mood recently because I just finished Out of Oz and *GASP* it was phenomenal! READ IT! *smiles* Alright, here you are! A speedier update than usual and I have just finished writing it so if there are spelling errors I apologise but I did not want to keep you waiting! I really hope you like this one. I tried to make it flow, which is hard! In a scene like this you never really know who to focus on._

_Enjoy and please please let me know what you think! I've had a fair few very lovely reviews which have been really encouraging. I am absolutely positive that each and every one of you knows how appreciated the reviews are so don't be shy. I would love to hear your thoughts!_

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><p>Elphaba found it very hard to breathe. Everything in the lower half of her body was cramping, searing. There was no heat, and it was not an ice cold pain either. She knew there were many reasonable things she should do in response to the pain: make a noise to wake Fiyero, focus on something else – anything – to distract herself until it subsided. It was impossible, though. She could make no sound because she was barely even breathing and every time she attempted to look around her she would double over again.<p>

Somehow, she recalled a piece of advice her mother-in-law had given her a few weeks ago. Nanda told her the most valuable thing she could do when she did not what else to do, was to stay calm. Breathe slowly. So she did. She hissed air in through her nostrils and let her chest expand. She made an O with her mouth as it escaped her lungs and she repeated and repeated. At last, the seizing muscles loosened.

She began to cry in relief, if for no other reason than that she had been so taken aback by the pain. So utterly panicked. What the hell was going on? A stupid question, as she knew perfectly well that it had been a labour pain, but every doctor and midwife, every Nanny carted over from Munchkinland and every parent and relative and friend had assured her that her first child would take its own sweet time. They had said that her pains would be dull, and slow and unidentifiable at first, that she might not even recognise it as a pain.

What a bloody pack of liars. Elphaba had read enough on the subject and seen enough women in her childhood give birth to know that every one was different. Why she had taken their word as gospel was beyond her. The baby's fault, she concluded, still trying to catch her breath.

"Fiyero," she began. Her voice was rough and too high for her liking; she was scared. "Fiyero." She tried to say it more forcefully but her vowels shook and she faltered. When she tried to pull herself up so she might touch him, shake him to wakefulness, the pain flared in her muscles and she cried out. "FIYERO! For God's sake wake up! What are you doing? Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! _Wake up!" _She growled, pounding the sheets next to her with a soundless lack of strength.

"Fae?" He said, sleepily at first. Then he heard her catching her breath, her coughs and crying. "Elphaba, what is it? What's happened?" He flipped over from his position lying on his stomach and tossed the sheets aside. When he touched her she gripped him so fiercely that his back gave way and he almost fell forward. He straightened up to help her. "Are you alright?" But she wasn't saying anything. She just kissed him on the mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck. She cried onto his shoulder and to comfort her he whispered soft words, he rubbed her back. To comfort himself he mentally noted that there was no blood, that she was awake and responsive and that her water had definitely not broken yet. "It's alright, sweetheart." He played a little with her hair that fell, curling and twisting down her back as she shook. "What frightened you? Tell me." He prompted.

"I had a contraction." She choked.

He kissed her neck; it was wet and salty. "A contraction? Really?" She nodded. He figured she had panicked and cursed himself for not being awake while she had been in pain. It must have been considerable, he figured, for her to be so unstrung. Now, though, it was time for him to panic. What was he supposed to do? It did not seem prudent to call anyone yet; there was no telling when the next contraction would be and if her water hadn't broken then it meant she was not in advanced labour yet.

As if she had read his mind, she said, "Yes, but we," she took a heavy and laboured breath, "we shouldn't call anyone. Not yet. I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you I just-"

"No, no. Don't be ridiculous it's alright. Of course you're scared." He sat her in front of him. Strands of hair were stuck to her face and neck like wet plaster. He laughed and moved them back. He dried her face with the quilt and told her to tie her hair back. "Beautiful." He observed.

She half-snorted and coughed a little, which he guessed must have been some kind of scoff or retort. In any case, she did not agree with him, but she was letting it go because it felt nice. Her fingers tickled his arms as they lightly grasped for purchase on his skin. Then, she frowned.

He copied her, and thought maybe she felt a little uncomfortable. She was sitting directly on the part of her body that would have been contracting: it cannot have been pleasant. All that weight. "You should lean back. Try to sleep, I'll stay awake for you, I'll sing." He offered.

But she held against him when he tried to lay her down, and shifted her position. Elphaba swallowed slowly, almost painfully. She said his name then, so quietly that he did not really hear it. "Yero." Her head was bowed down, a gesture signaling that he should follow her gaze. A dark patch, like a puddle, was expanding between her legs. It was all different shades. He looked up at her. She was ashen and sweating and her eyes were closed. She had lifted her face to the ceiling, or the sky. Fiyero could not tell. "My waters."

"Shit. He doesn't waste any time, does he?" He chuckled, genuinely amused that it had taken such a quick turn. "Alright, let me get the phone. Who should I call first?"

"Doctor Than, then your mother. I'll send for Galinda." The tone of her voice had changed: she was all business now. Like when there had been some sudden influx of orphaned Animals, or a disaster which she was required to attend as an aid. Now, her child was on the way, and she was determined to do everything in her power to have him delivered safely.

Fiyero was damn excited: he was glad that the people he was calling could not see him as there were telltale tears of elation in his eyes. As he dialled, he saw Elphaba wade across the room to the window. She reached the open door and stepped out onto the balcony. From the corner of his eye he watched her, clocking that her broom was still safely downstairs. Well, he would not put it past her to go flying across the street just to get Galinda.

Elphaba was not dim-witted enough to consider flying whilst in labour, but she did pick up an electric torch and shine it across to her friend's bedroom. She smirked when she saw that Galinda had kept the curtains open. She shut it on and off a few times, to wake her up. Eventually, the neighbour stirred and once she had sat up and squinted to see what the hell the problem was, she moved so unbelievably quickly that Elphaba wondered why in Oz it always took her so long to get up on regular mornings.

"Glinny-dinny is on her way." She sighed, closing the door behind her. It was too cold, now. They would open for her again if needs be. Fiyero nodded from the chair by the phone. He was still talking to Doctor Than when she was overcome by another contraction. She waved him away from this one, however, and simply waited it out on the bed. What else was there for her to do really, than wait it all out?

"No! Stay on the damned phone!" She croaked between breaths. She puffed out and huffed in gulps of her. Not the best technique and it made her feel light-headed by the time the contraction lessoned, but she assumed she would naturally improve. "So exhausting." She sighed when it was finally done, and she stripped herself naked and discarded the soiled nightgown, rifling through her drawers for a fresh one. She even stripped the bed sheet she had mucked up and stuffed it into the laundry hamper, too. Elphaba waddled to the closet and brought out a new sheet. Fiyero or Galinda could put it on whenever they were free.

"Elphie!" Squeaked a very overactive voice for this time of night. Little padding footsteps could be heard pattering on the stairs and along the hall to their bedroom. "Oh it's exciting. How are you, hmm? Sit down, I'll put that sheet on for you."

"Thank you, dearie." For all that Galinda might be a source of irritation sometimes, most of the time she was a blessing. Elphaba rapped her fingers on the table next to her. Galinda folded the duvet and the throws and put them away in the chest at the end of the bed. She removed the pillows, dressed the mattress and then re-arranged them for Elphaba's comfort. It _was _very exciting. "Glinny, how in Oz do you know what you're doing?"

"As if I wouldn't have researched this, Elphie!" She scoffed, but lovingly. "If I'm honest most of it was common sense, although it didn't hurt to be informed of the best course of action for different situations that might arise."

"What situations?"

"Well, what if I had to deliver the baby?"

"Oh please, you? Galinda, you turn white when you get a papercut!" She laughed.

Galinda frowned and pouted. "Well I never! I assure you if the moment arose where my ministrations were required then I would rise to the occasion. What are Auntie's for?" Elphaba only shook her head and let Galinda go about her work. She next gathered towels and Elphaba heard running water. Hot water, then. The midwife would need these things in any case, so it was not exactly a waste of time.

"Elphaba, how far are you dilated?" Fiyero called from the phone.

"I have no idea how to even begin answering that question, Fiyero. I can't exactly measure myself – and _no_, Galinda, your service are not needed for this task. Just stay over there thank you very much." Galinda winked cheekily and cast a spell over some spare sheets she had spread over the mattress that would allow them to absorb any birthing fluids.

"Keeping it clean." She commented entirely to herself.

"Doctor she says she doesn't know." Fiyero spoke into the mouthpiece. Elphaba watched him nod and lick his lips. "Uh huh, uh huh. Okay, and so how do I do that? Right. Okay, hang on a minute."

He put the phone down and took four quick strides towards her that took her aback a bit. Not as much as she was when he stuck his hand between her legs, though. "FIYERO! What in Oz' name are you doing?"

"I need to see how dilated you are!" He insisted. His hands were warm, thank goodness. She felt him ease her knees to the side and his fingers slip inside.

"You _could _have warned me, just a small courtesy my love. Believe it or not, I would have permitted you." He slid in a second finger easily.

"Sorry. How does that feel?" He asked and it sounded like a come on.

"Excuse me, but Galinda is in the bathroom." She reminded him quietly.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm asking you if you can feel my fingers. I am currently measuring five centimetres here, Elphie."

"_Five?_" She whispered, afraid to even say it. "Already?" His heart broke when he saw her face tremble and felt her muscles tense in fear. "Oh Oz, it's too fast. No one's here!"

"It's alright, it's fine." He said, though she hardly believed him. He removed his hand and kissed her before running over to the phone again. She saw her discharge on his fingers transfer to the mouthpiece. They would have to wash that. Better yet, just throw it out and buy a new one. "She's seven centimetres, Doctor."

"What? You said five! Five centimetres! YERO!"

He had attempted to whisper it, but the good Doctor would not have been able to hear. "I fit in four fingers, you didn't feel? That's about seven centimetres." She shook her head. "She might be more, actually."

"Well I _felt _you, but it wasn't _uncomfortable._" She said to herself. Perhaps she was just too used to his being there.

Fiyero hung up the phone. "Fae, honey, listen. Um, Galinda can you come in here for a minute please?" Galinda popped her head in from the bathroom. In truth, she had been very busy but when she heard what Fiyero was doing she busied herself a little more than was necessary. Oh well, there could never be too much to hand for a birth, she supposed.

"Yes, what is it?" She chirruped, though the air was tense and Elphaba's eyes were trained on her husband in a way that made Galinda's skin shiver.

"Doctor Than cannot get here in less than three hours." He admitted.

"Oz, I knew something was wrong. Why is he so far away when I'm about to give birth? What about the midwife?"

"They are attending another birth, darling." He informed her. "Unfortunately that is just how long it's going to take them to get here, even if they take the next train from Shiz."

"They're in _Shiz?" _Galinda balked. She took Elphaba's free right hand.

Fiyero was forced to pause when Elphaba was racked with another contraction. It was more powerful and lasted much longer than the others. A bad sign, as far as the mother was concerned. He let her breath it out before he continued, though they all knew they now had less time. "Sweetheart, there's a very real possibility that I'll have to deliver him myself." Elphaba only looked at him, her face had gone blank. Completely unreadable, which unsettled Fiyero and Galinda. "In fact I think we should just prepare for that fact. Now. Right now, Galinda." He said, more forcefully.

He figured if he just set about doing things, anything, it would better for keeping her calm. But she was terrified, he could see, and had retreated into nothingness of some sort. He had Galinda take her to the bed, where she had yet another contraction which surpassed its predecessor in strength and length. The blonde just read her watch and counted down the minutes softly until it was over. She really was a godsend, that girl. Calm in a crisis, who would have thought it?

"Galinda, call my mother, please. She's only ten minutes away and she can probably get here in time to help us."

"Probably." Elphaba repeated, as a statement. She lay her head back and began to whisper something to herself that Fiyero could not overhear.

He switched more lights on so they could actually see. He heard Galinda chattering on the phone and his mother's cool voice speaking in reply. It set his heart at ease a little to know she was on her way.

"Fiyero." Elphaba called him over, her hand outstretched weakly.

"Hey, have a little faith in us!" He protested lightly, trying to lift her spirits a little when he saw the tears streaming relentlessly from her eyes. He wondered if she could even see.

"It's our baby." She said, clutching his hands, sobbing. "Fiyero, please I . . . I just . . ." She got nothing coherent out so he kissed her mouth, wet with fear and told her firmly to calm down.

"People have babies every day, all over Oz and goodness knows how many other worlds. Look at me, now. Trust me." He handed her a handkerchief.

Elphaba took a breath and ran her hand over her belly. Perhaps for the last time, she thought. "I'm sorry. It's only from the pain. They aren't honest with you in any book I've ever read."

"You don't get everything from books." He winked.

"Where else would you get it from?" She joked, and he kissed her warmly. "Of course I trust you, of course I do. Just be the one to hover down there, please? I don't much fancy Galinda peeping at my fanny, thank you."

"Don't worry about that. Galinda!" He called to her, just as she put down the phone. "You're in charge of telling Elphie to breathe, alright?" The blonde rolled her eyes in a decidedly Elphaba-like imitation and bounced into the bathroom to retrieve the first bucket of water.

"Galinda, you only have one bucket?" Fiyero complained when the blonde returned, heaving the thing to and fro as fast as she could, bless her. "What if we need another one?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Well you're welcome. I don't see you going to find and sterilise another bloody bucket. Nor do I see you carting it to and from the bathroom. For your information," She poked him in the chest, and Elphaba laughed. "When you're done with that I'll throw it down the toilet and fill it again."

"Why don't you just magic it?"

"NO!" Chimed Elphaba, a hand in the air before Galinda could respond. "Glinny is not qualified and more to the point not allowed to deal with water-related spells, thank you."

Fiyero eyed the blonde who shrugged. "Why not?"

"To cut a long story short, Fiyero, she almost drowned Horrible Morrible in class once." Galinda blushed, but not with shame, with pride. "Really, it was hilarious. You'd have done us all a favour." This highly amused Fiyero, who was red with laughter.

"Well I'm so glad I amused you." Galinda pretended offence, but it hardly worked when Fiyero was not taking her seriously and Elphaba was trying not to laugh because it hurt too much.

"Ow!" Elphaba managed one word before she was silenced by pain. She did not feel nor see Fiyero measure her again.

"Elphaba, how do you feel, what do you want to do?" He asked, a little unsure of himself. He sincerely hoped it was not obvious in his voice. He had to wait for three minutes until the contraction stopped. It was awful: Elphaba's face was creased in pain and red where she tensed it. Her hand around Galinda's was white. Trying to be logical, he realised how truly helpless they all were. If something happened, if something was wrong . . . not one of them had any way of knowing what to do.

"Do you want to push, Elphie? You should push!" Galinda prompted, when it was obvious that her friend just could not get words out. It made sense to conserve breath for breathing, really.

Elphaba nodded. She had no time to wallow over the significance of the moment, no time to think about how she was about to meet her son. Or her daughter. In that heat of it all, she did not recognise the doubt that she might have been wrong about the gender. There was no room for anything but pain. She just pushed and pushed more and more and harder and harder until she all but collapsed.

Fiyero just stole a glance at the women. "Um, I don't see anything."

"I want to get up." They heard Elphaba moan. "Up, on my knees. Lift me up, Galinda." She looked warily at Fiyero, but he was already at her side and supporting her shoulder until she was sat, squatted on her hands and knees. She breathed deeply. It was primal. Very animalistic. They could not afford to worry over dignity or what might be deemed inappropriate, but Fiyero still rushed Galinda over to Elphaba's head.

He lifted her gown and rolled it up until it sat somewhat securely around her waist. Galinda held it there. It was strange how the body parted ways for birthing he thought, and he could not help but frown as he watched. From his angle he could not see much, but he leaned and felt with his hand. "A head, the head, I see the head!" He shouted, as if he was opening a Lurlinemas present.

It made Elphaba giggle nonetheless and Galinda muttered encouragements. "Oh oooooph it _hurts_!" She groaned. Her voice grated and cracked and she almost fell forward. Galinda propped her back up again using strength she did not know she possessed.

"Fae, my god, you're amazing. How in Oz are you doing this?"

"_Not helping!"_ She hissed, breathing deeply as a contraction subsided. "How . . . how is it?" The feeling was so alien, she could not characterise it. The only experience she could liken it to was the first time she had slept with Fiyero. Of course the baby was bigger, and this was definitely less pleasurable, but the same feeling of withstanding discomfort was there. This one just happened to be accompanied by the most unbelievable pain. It was a constant strain. It hurt more to think about it, so she breathed and longed for the next contraction.

Though it was only a matter of seconds before it arrived, truly it felt like an hour.

"The head is almost out." Elphaba squeezed her eyes shut. Her heart beat faster when she heard how happy Fiyero sounded. She thought he was crying. She definitely was. Fiyero clutched the towel he had in his hand. It was so soft and welcoming. It begged, it almost sang out to hold the baby. "A forehead! Fae the head is completely covered in hair! He's got your hair!"

"You're sure it's a boy?" Galinda asked for her friend. Fiyero laughed, he was not sure, of course. Just habit for them all by now. Elphaba reached up to her friend between contractions and saw that she, too, was in floods of tears. "Impossible not to cry, really." She said, when Elphie wiped a tear away. Not to dry them, but to acknowledge them. To thank her, she thought in her heart.

The pain was much worse. There was simply nothing like it. Nothing in the world, ever. In no other capacity could anyone equal the pain she was in. Contractions intensified it, but they brought a little hope, a slight relief. She was surely almost done now? The baby must be out completely soon.

"Yero, tell me!" She gasped.

Fiyero could hardly speak a word. He had never cried this much before. It was overwhelming. There was the face of their baby, eyes closed. Looking a little squished and uncomfortable, but there. "Head's out." Elphaba put her forehead on Galinda's and sobbed. Fiyero took another towel and did his best to wipe the blood that had trickled down her thighs. He cleaned what he could of the head. "Just a little more. One last time. One final push." He said, focused now. One more from her and he could hold the baby.

Elphaba steeled herself. The shoulders, she thought, are likely to be the most difficult part. She pushed and nothing else. Just pushed.

It was funny when he finally came out. He just slid down once the knees had appeared, and lay right in his father's waiting arms. Fiyero even laughed.

Elphaba finally collapsed on her arms, on Galinda's lap. She was shaking violently from exhaustion and Galinda moved her quickly onto her back.

Elphaba laughed like she had never laughed before. She could not really account for exactly what was going on at her feet, but she saw the tiny . . . tiny little thing in Fiyero's arms. It was making a noise.

"Wanna cut the cord, Aunt Galinda?" Fiyero asked. Galinda nodded and helped him sever the tie and pin it safely enough to last until someone more qualified showed up. Fiyero looked at his wife, pale from her efforts and staring in utter wonder at their son. "You were right all along, my green girl. It's a boy."

Elphaba forced back powerful tears so she would be able to see him as Fiyero placed the little thing on her chest. He moved the nightgown so they were skin-to-skin and tucked the towel over the red and purple and pink and white skin of the baby boy. He wriggled a little, and Elphaba cradled his head and his behind to still him. He turned to her out of some natural inclination. His eyes opened. They were not small. They were big, suggestive, hopeful, searching. Blue. Though all newborns eyes were blue, Fiyero and Elphaba could not care less. He looked at his mother and she looked at her son. Fiyero snuggled into his wife, adding to the support from the pillows.

Galinda cleared away the towels, the mess. She used the water to wash her friend, who remained oblivious to anything else, of course. The little angel was not green, something she knew Elphaba would be silently thankful for. She prepared the smallest suit she could find for him to wear once he had been cleaned and his bottom pinned safely into a napkin. She poured cool water for Elphaba to drink and coffee for Fiyero. She cried and cried and cried.

"Galinda, come here. Sit down." Elphaba said quietly. The baby was girning and testing out his arms and legs in their new found freedom. "He needs to be cleaned, doesn't he?" She asked. Galinda nodded and did the honours, lifting him from his mother's breast. He was not best pleased, but Elphaba only laughed. "Fiyero," she began. He touched their lips together. "I'm very happy I met you." She whispered.

"I'm very happy I met you, too. Just look at what we would have missed out on."

"You know, I never wanted children." She said, frowning playfully. "But I want him. I want him so much. I can't enough of him. I miss him!" She admitted.

"It's alright! Aunt Galinda works at lightning speed! Here he is, all wrapped up." He was, and quite beautifully so. He had a cotton white baby grow on, a white cotton cap and was firmly and securely swaddled in a warm blanket.

"Thank you." Elphaba said, receiving a kiss on her cheek from her friend. "Thank you so much." Galinda did not need it worded, but she knew in her heart that Elphaba meant to acknowledge her giving up Fiyero.

"He needs a name." Galinda prompted.

* * *

><p><em>Little bundle of absolute joy 3<em>


	12. When the calm collides with the storm

**_Author's Note: _**_I disclaim anything that is obviously not mine_.

_So so lovely to hear that lots of you loved the last chapter - who doesn't love babies? :D So he is a permanent fixture now and I love him. A little tearaway even though he can't hold his own head up. _

_This one has a bit of a twist . . . I'm not one to rest on a happy storyline for long. Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>"He's so beautiful." Elphaba twirled a precious curl around they very tip of her forefinger. "Little baby boy."<p>

"A name, Fae." Fiyero reminded her, mimicking the action of her finger with his own and pressing kisses on her cheek and her lips when the moment afforded it. "What shall we call him?"

"I don't know." She breathed, staring at every inch of him. She wanted to memorise him and she kept him snuggled tightly to her breast. His face was almost perfectly round. He had inherited her mother's Munchkinland pallor, but it was tinted darker than she remembered; a trait from his father. The red and pink from being birthed had not quite disappeared yet, and he smelled like his mother. He smelled like her to his father very much, and the scent linked the little family of three even more.

His lips were pink buds. Elphaba could not quite fathom it. "He's . . . perfect. I don't really understand it."

"Well excuse me." She looked up at him and he winked. It suddenly brought her back to one of the not-so-dates they had shared in the library, when he would touch her, brush against her and whisper in her ear. She would shiver and quiver in her skin. Feeling that same thing now, with their son in her arms, was exhilarating.

"You know." She said. "Well of course, there's you. You're gorgeous. No one could look at you and not fall in love with you. Including me." Though he had been told this many times and though he knew and remembered his experiences as a loved-up playboy, it did not matter. It was Elphaba's eye he wanted to catch, and hearing it from her as she described their brand new little boy touched him in the depths of his heart and soul. He kissed her. "I'm not a Gillikin beauty. I'm not a rare jewel in anyone's mine. Even if I wasn't green, I wouldn't be striking."

"Elphaba I don't know how you can still say that." She took a breath. "No, please. Not now. Look at him: he is the amalgamation of us both in equal measures. If he is perfect, which he is, then it is thanks to you and me. We're his parents, you silly thing." He ran his thumb over the baby's cheek, which was so small it only took him half a second. "And my wife is the rarest beauty in all of Oz. I don't care about anyone else's mine, but you're the crown jewels of my entire kingdom. You're my beauty and I love you. Okay?"

She nodded, and did not let him see her smile falter and fresh tears cover the tracks of the ones that had come before them. They were happy ones. They were tears of pride, power, happiness and exhaustion. Fiyero knew they were there, and waited them out. All the while, they held their baby boy until he fell sound asleep.

He felt so wonderfully heavy in her arms, his little legs still curving as they must have done in her womb. They laughed as he fought against sleep whenever some small noise would wake him. He wanted to see everything that was going on. Part of Elphie thought humorously that he knew he was the centre of attention that morning. Occasionally she liked to lean forward and kiss the little nub that formed his nose, and touch their foreheads together. Fiyero rested an arm around his wife's neck and rubbed their baby's feet between the fingers of another.

Suffice to say, it was a beautiful tableau that greeted Nanda when she entered the room. Galinda beamed from her chair at the bedside, relieved that someone more qualified as an adult had finally come amongst them.

"Elphaba?" Nanda whispered tentatively. She felt that there were new boundaries to be respected, as well as old ones which had broken down between Elphaba and the new grandmother. They were very close, Nanda thought, and often she was very much a mother to her. She saw that Elphaba was a mother, too, holding her son so well for someone so young. Nanda had been young herself when she first became a mother and she recognised in Elphaba's eyes the same wonderment and fierce passion for her child that she still fostered for her sons and daughters. "May I?" She asked.

Elphaba nodded. "Of course!" She smiled, sniffing back tears. Nanda put up a hand in refusal when Elphaba went to place the baby in her arms.

"No, no. He looks so peaceful with his Mama." She explained, and took a soft seat facing the parents on the bed, completing the frame with Galinda on the other side. "My, my. What a beauty." She breathed, a hand on her heart. Elphaba watched her carefully, drinking in her reaction. "So handsome, aren't you?" She bit her lower lip a little, and then raised her face to Elphaba's. She placed two hands on either side of the green girl's face. "And how do you feel?"

Warm tears rippled over Nanda's fingers as Elphaba tried to speak. She waited patiently for her, wiping a few streaks away and leaving others. Elphaba was unsure of how to articulate how she felt. She knew Nanda had many children and she felt ill-equipped to explain how much she loved her son. Eventually, she settled on the more immediate issues. "I'm tired." Nanda nodded in understanding. "And I'm a little tense. Fiyero delivered him. We haven't had him checked. I – I haven't been told that everything is alright."

"He's fine. I've had many _many _children and I can promise you that he will be fine on his own with just his mother and father until Doctor Than arrives. As for you, you look exhausted. All three of you look like the living dead. So," she said, realising that she was now the person in charge, the person whom they were all looking to for some guidance and reassurance. "Galinda, help me bring that crib to the bedside, will you?"

Nanda lit the room with scented candles. She eased Elphaba onto her back and propped the baby up with a pillow so he could lie next to her safely and securely. Fiyero lay happily next to them. He waited until they were both asleep before drifting off himself. Neither Mama nor Papa dreamed a thing; they were too happy and filled up with their present joy.

* * *

><p>"Show him in as soon as he arrives, please." Her housekeeper nodded politely, and walked her prim little body out of the room until Galinda was alone again.<p>

She was primping and priming for the first date she had been on in quite some time. Of course there were many men who escorted her to balls, parties, societal meetings and government soirees but these were hardly men to whom she could form any kind of attachment. They were mostly social climbers, though some may have had a heart of gold. One or two were doe-eyed with her, and others were stiff but tolerable.

This man was utterly different. Well, not so different. He was Gillikinese, for how could she face her mother if she took an ill-bred beau? He was flawlessly good-looking and could hold his own remarkably well in the political arenas. He was well-respected and he had a fine mind filled with charm and wisdom.

However, what caught Galinda's eye was his warmth and goodness. He was kind, thoughtful and he made her laugh. They had things in common having both been raised in Gillikin, but he would introduce her to new things, to new kinds of people. He acquainted her with tolerance and self-respect, with charity for the sake of charity and not the society pages. He differentiated between the public and private life. He reminded her of Elphaba, in that way.

Her parents knew him, her friends knew him and her closest friends knew him. The public liked him. She suppressed the urge to fantasise about how their relationship might end up, where it might lead to, because she was learning to live for the moment. She was beginning to grasp the idea that she might be a different person than she had been led to believe by sorority sisters and pageantry mothers.

She peered at herself in the mirror. She still liked to pose for it and she always would. She loved fashion, she loved shoes and clothes and hair and makeup and she always would. He taught her that there was nothing to be ashamed of in that respect, as long as one tempered one's obsessions with reason and knowledge. Well, she had graduated from Shiz University, he had said, and now she partly ruled Oz. So there was no lacking in academia for Miss Galinda.

She was disturbed by an upstairs maid looking to inform her that her gentleman had arrived. Smiling, Galinda thanked the girl and descended the stairs, where he waited for her at the bottom.

"Well, good evening Guirr." She greeted him.

He smiled. "It certainly is. And how is it being an Aunt, for the first time? You told me you helped to deliver him? What in Oz happened there?"

"_So _many things I have to tell you!" She trilled. They walked through the house to the deck in the south-facing garden where she had tea brought out. They sat together on white wooden bench, padded with cream suede pillows. "I did indeed, and no word of a lie!"

"I cannot believe it." He teased. She tossed her hair in response.

"You'd better!" She giggled happily. "Elphaba's labour progressed rather too quickly for our liking, and we had no choice. It was quite something to be there."

"What's wrong?" Her face had taken on a sad, sombre sense. She seemed far away from him. "You look distressed."

"Every so often I just remember it far too well." She felt him take her hand. "I didn't like seeing her in so much pain."

"How does she remember it?"

She squinted a little. Oh, there were tears? "She's still in a lot of pain, though goodness knows she tries to hide it. I know Fiyero was disturbed almost to watch her in so much pain and know there was nothing he could do about it. At the time I don't think any of us really took much notice; we were just so excited to meet him."

"Of course." He said, curtly. "But when you look back . . ." He offered for her.

"When I look back, and I'm damned sure whenever Fiyero looks back, too, all I can remember is how contorted her face was, and how ill she must be now. She's _so _tired, Guirr."

"My darling, of course she is! You mustn't be surprised if she struggles to regain her strength after such a birth. I know she's your rock, dear. I can see that, but you must allow for her to rest now. You must allow that her body now has to support her son as well as doing all the hundreds of things she usually does." Galinda thanked him, assured that he was right. She had thought about these things, but never had they anchored down in her mind until she heard them from his mouth. She avoided tears when he kissed her hand gently. "How is Elphaba was her son, then?"

"Let's just say she's been very good at fooling us all into thinking she isn't a soft touch." He raised an eyebrow. "Oh no, but really. She is in heaven. I watch the two of them with him and I just think that I have never seen anyone so purely happy. Fiyero . . . Fiyero is so heartbreaking to watch. He is every inch the proud father."

"I can imagine so. He grew up in a large family, he must feel glad to be extending his own now." He paused. "And the name?"

Galinda waited, teasing him. The name would be kept an utter secret from Oz until the boy's naming day. "Liir."

"A handsome one. Thropp or Tiggular? Or both?"

"Well he is technically a Prince isn't he? Minas bestowed that upon him. Little Prince Liir of the Vinkus. Elphaba calls him Liir Tiggular, of course. Fiyero does, too, when she can hear him." She laughed.

"Bless them, then. How is he with you? He is three weeks old now, is he not?"

"I love him. I absolutely adore him. He has every facet of his parents in bucket loads." She thought for a moment. "He does not like to be away from his mother, but he never cries about it. He'll wait for her. It's very sweet. He watches out for her in the same way that Fiyero does. His laugh!" She inhaled in ecstasy. "He's ticklish and it's my favourite thing to hear his laugh." She paused. They looked at one another. "So many traits already and he's not even one month old."

"A magical baby. It's in his blood." Guirr commented. "When do I get to meet him?"

Galinda bit her tongue. "Elphaba and Fiyero don't know about us yet."

He nodded. Galinda's eyes lit up when the evening sun gave a pinkness to his skin. He was so handsome. Her silver fox. "Yet." He repeated. She could not tell if there was inflection or if it was a statement.

"Well, forgive me, but I don't know if there's anything to tell."

They sat for a moment. Galinda felt, for the first time in her life, entirely uncomfortable under the gaze of Guirr. Usually she would bat her lashes, flirt with him, and even kiss him. Now, she could not. She was a little frozen. She was aware of a supreme desire not to push him too far. She did not want to scare him with her ambition for him.

"I think you're a remarkable woman, Galinda. I think there's something to tell, and so do you. I can see you do."

When he kissed her, she could not help but smile, from the bottom of her heart to the tip of her fingers.

* * *

><p>Fiyero lay in bed next to his wife. It was their first night alone with Liir. His mother had been there for every feeding, every dirty incident, and every screaming hour where they had no idea how to comfort him. Elphaba was fairly nervous once they had gone. She had kept her calm and cool whilst they prepared to leave, but Fiyero could see how uncomfortable she still was.<p>

She remained sharply sensitive to any contact concerning the aggrieved areas. It took a while to sit down and stand up. Her breasts ached still and two months of that particular pain was wearing her nerves very thin. She gave up hiding it from her husband, and though she felt a little humiliated, it gave a her the greatest relief when he would put a pillow in the freezer so she could have it between her legs whenever the pain was too hot.

Fiyero laid an arm around her waist, and it fell over her stomach. It was flat now, obviously. Galinda remarked constantly how lucky she was to regain her figure so quickly, though the green mother insisted she had none to begin with. He drew a faint line across her waist, and down her arm. She turned around to face him. Her eyes were closed, but she wore a sweet little smirk on her face that made him laugh.

"I'm trying to sleep." She whispered very softly. Liir was asleep not a few feet away from them in his crib, for which they were both very grateful. She contradicted herself when she lifted herself up to kiss him.

He felt her wince against his lips. "Elphaba, don't do that, you'll hurt yourself. I can kiss you, darling."

"I didn't want to leave it all to you. How else can I claim to be the over-stretched and put upon wife?" She joked, but let him kiss her next time.

"Do you think he'll sleep all night?" Fiyero said. He put his arm around her shoulders and let her wrap herself around his body. "Hm? What do you think sweetheart?"

She giggled a little. "I don't think so, dearest." She sighed, walking her fingers along his chest as though they were legs. "Which is exactly why we should be sleeping."

"I can't help it; you're lying right next to me."

"Even when I look like this? I don't exactly feel very sexy." She complained, drawing a little circle on his chest with her finger.

"I know you don't, and neither do I. That doesn't mean I'm not attracted to you. You just gave birth to our son. I love you more now than I ever did, if it's possible. You just make me so proud."

She drew her face up to touch his. "Yero, my Hero. As always." He avoided leaning too heavily on her when she drew him closer in a more passionate kiss than they had shared since before Liir had been born. He loved having her hands around his neck again. "For the record, my love, I couldn't ask for a more patient husband."

Elphaba was relieved to find her body reacting positively to the physical sensation of Fiyero's kisses. She had worried that because it was still so torn up that she would lose her drive. To an extent she had, and they would not be able to make love again until she had fully healed. But she took great comfort in feeling that she _wanted _him to put his hands on her, and that it still gave her chills.

There was, of course, no reason why she could not please him alone. But halfway into her ministrations (for which she used her hand, as she remained slightly too exhausted to hold herself up above him without his support), Liir woke. He did not scream, but they disliked the sound of his whimpering more.

"Now, Liir?" Elphaba heard Fiyero say into her hair. She kissed his neck where she had been teasing him more affectionately now. "That's so unfair."

"He wants a feeding." She said, checking the time and sliding off the bed. She kissed him again before seeing to her son. "Why don't you just finish yourself?"

"I would love to, but I can't. Not without you."

"Oh what ever will you do if I go on a business trip?" She teased.

He thought for a moment while she placed a hand into Liir's crib and stroked his tummy to comfort him. "You'll just have to call me and talk dirty." He said, nonchalantly.

"Oh yes, I can see that happening." She scoffed. Liir was beginning to wail, so she tore herself away from the conversation and hugged his tiny little body with her hands. "He's grown so much, but he's still so small. I can't really fathom it. Especially considering that he certainly _felt _bigger than this when he was coming out of me." Fiyero laughed. She tucked a blanket around him securely and sat on the nursing chair they had moved in from the nursery for the time being, until they felt comfortable enough to have him in another room.

"There we go, almost there." She spoke to Liir with a gentler voice; it was soothing and higher than her own, but Liir reacted pleasantly to them both. Fiyero lost himself in watching them: Elphaba opening her gown to reveal her breast, and her manoeuvres until his tiny pink mouth took her nipple and began to suck. It was almost sensual, how full her breasts were, how rounded they had become all filled with milk. His eyes followed the light as it lay soft and white on them. He found that he could, after all, continue by himself.

"I think your father is enjoying this almost as much as you, Liir." Elphaba smirked to her oblivious son. Liir looked up at her, wide-eyed, his little hands trying to grasp inexplicably to her breast or her chest. He fit so well to her. She giggled almost uncontrollably when Fiyero stumbled into the bathroom to finish himself off. She winced quite a bit when she felt herself growing wet for him. It hurt her to be turned on. "Curse your father and his good looks even when he is being disgustingly male about it all, hmm?"

"Oh shut up, you started it!" He yelled from the bathroom.

Elphaba smiled and titled her head back to rest. From her position at the window she could see Galinda's house across the road. Her head snapped up. "Um, Fiyero, come here!"

"What is it?" He asked, walking back through with cold water on his hands and face. He was unashamedly nude. Elphaba concealed a wince.

"Look, look at Galinda's porch."

He squinted and sat next to her to see more clearly. "Oh my, who ever could that be at this hour?"

"I have no idea." They watched as Galinda and a man whom they could not name for the life of them embraced rather passionately against her front door. "But I hope her walls are made of sturdy stuff." He teased.

Elphaba felt a pang of jealousy as the dishevelled couple made their way indoors. "I don't get it."

"What don't you get? Remember the first time she did this, with that boy . . . um . . . Taffid? It's in her nature."

"No, no it's not. Even then it was counterintuitive to me and now it just screams all kinds of . . . wrong. I don't like it. I feel like she isn't playing along with him." Elphaba's face was showing all kinds of wear and Fiyero sat in front of her.

"Is there a chance you feel this way because of Mraic?" He said gently.

She thought about it. "I don't think this has anything to do with me. I feel safe, but I don't feel safe for her."

"I think you're reading too much into this. She can take care of herself, Elphaba. You have to let go of the feeling that you have to look after her all the time. She might be flighty sometimes but she always knows what she's doing."

Galinda's bedroom light turned on and they turned away. "I hate this sometimes." She hissed.

Fiyero kissed her and saw her lip turn upside down and her eyes water. "Oh darling, it's alright." He wiped her tears. "All things heal in time, every mother goes through this."

"I know, but," She sniffed and breathed, trying to compose herself, as though Liir would dislike seeing her upset. "I want to be with you, it just hurts so much."

"And we aren't going to push it, are we?" She shook her head. "Elphaba you just had a baby. It's hardly a bloody walk in the park. You have to give yourself time to recover so that when we do make love again it's safe." He kissed her forehead. "My love, you're always with me, you know that." He promised.

Elphaba smiled, and let both Liir and Fiyero wrap themselves around her.

* * *

><p>In her house, Galinda desperately tried to force him off. Strength was never her forte, though, and each time she thought she was ahead of him he easily dragged her back in. Bleeding and coughing and crying out in a house empty of servants, she wondered how she had even let him in. She could not remember how she got from the cabaret bar in the centre of town to her bedroom, but there they were. She hoped and prayed that Liir was up for a midnight feeding. At this point, he was her only chance.<p>

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><p><em>*GASP* . . . . . Review!<em>


	13. The Sleeping Beauty

**_Author's Note: _**_I disclaim. _

_I'm so glad to read your reviews! Everyone loves a little bit of drama! If you're one of those people, you're gonna love these next few chapters. They come more easily to me and, therefore, you, when they're full of exciting story developments and plot twists!_

_Enjoy!_

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><p>Elphaba grew more and more anxious as the night wore on into morning. She could not sleep. She lay with her hands on her forehead as though she were feeling for the first signs of a fever. She was teary and bleary-eyed. She stared at Fiyero, sound asleep next to her, as if he were being criminally negligent for not feeling as nervous as she did.<p>

Eventually she sat up and willed Liir into crying, girning, making _any _kind of noise that might justify her not sleeping while he slept. That was what she was told to do in order to help speed up the healing process. Sleep when he is sleeping. Rest when he is not playing. Laugh when he laughs and do not push yourself. Well, now she did not want to sleep and she did not want to be pushed into sleep. So there you have it, she thought. I'm not sleeping.

She sat up and clocked the time. 6am. Not so bad, she thought, and slipped on house shoes. She wrapped herself up and immediately went to make coffee. But she found it made her feel dangerous to leave her son when her husband was so innocently unconscious. Though she knew it was stupid since he was so peaceful, Elphaba picked him up and secured him to her chest with a wrap. He made no sound, except for the beautifully rhythmic pattern of his breath as it moved in and out.

She left a little note for Fiyero. _Darling, Liir and I have gone downstairs for coffee. He likes his with cream. I love you, Elphaba. _He would laugh, she thought and she left him with a kiss.

Every time she spotted Galinda's house through the windows, her stomach flipped and she gripped the balustrade as she descended, not enjoying the feeling of wooziness that kept coming to her like hot flashes. Elphaba would not have been surprised to find out she was going through the changes. It would be just like her body to do that after she had only had one child. Not that she would care.

"Alright, Liir. What do you want for breakfast, hmm?" She laughed to herself and then cursed under her breath; he was still asleep and she had to ensure he stayed that way for as long as possible. "What shall _Mama _have?"

She fingered the coffee machine and played with the different blends the housekeeper always kept before it occurred to her that she may not be allowed coffee at all. And Fiyero would probably rush downstairs thinking she was devouring cup after cup. Oh dear.

Well, a nice little run would be good for him in the morning.

She settled for ice water. She felt hot and it cooled her a little. She sat back into the fluffed pillows of their sofa and magicked a fire into existence. It warmed her nicely, and she forced calm upon herself. In the distance she heard a soft knock at the door, rudely causing a splash in her envisioned pool of serenity. Maybe a bath, she had thought? Who the hell, at this hour? As she walked to answer it occurred to her that the housekeeper must be the early morning visitor; she had forgotten her keys before.

"We'll just have to tie them around her neck, won't we Liir?" She said, turning the knob.

"Madame Vizier Princess Thropp – I mean Tiggular!" Elphaba allowed herself a little laugh and a curse at the woman's mistakes. "I'm so sorry, but I can't seem to get into Lady Galinda's house. The keys won't work. They – they won't turn in the lock."

Elphaba only stared at the near frantic woman. They were both wringing their hands. She peeked at the door in question behind the black and cotton clad uniformed woman. It looked . . . it looked disturbed. Perhaps she was projecting her own fears onto it, a house surely could not feel?

"Come in. I'll get my husband. Help yourself to some coffee."

"Oh, thank you so much. I'm very grateful." Elphaba knew the woman did not want to be left alone, but at the moment she would look far too on edge and ridiculous if they attached themselves to one another.

"Fiyero, darling. Please wake up. I can't take this anymore." She said, shaking him a little. "Yero?" She sing-songed her voice up and down playfully. "Time to be my hero once more!" If only it were that simple.

He was not amused to be woken, but even he agreed that it was odd that the housekeeper could not get inside. "Elphaba, tell me she isn't . . . you know . . . insane."

"Oh for god's sake. She just wants inside. We're just asking for all your masculine wiles." She teased, hoping it would make him feel a little less begrudging.

"You're lucky I love you so much." He said, though he kissed her and Liir and greeted the housekeeper pleasantly enough. "May I see the keys?" He asked. He tinkered with them as they crossed the road and draped a coat over himself. "They look fine. Though I'm no locksmith. Maybe the lock's just warped. We've had some odd weather."

"You mean the cold snap could have bent the wood or something?" The housekeeper asked hopefully. Not one of them noticed the absence of Fiyero's titles.

Elphaba made eyes at him, but he had no idea if it was to encourage him to lie more or if she needed the reassurance, too. "Well, let's see, shall we?" He said, and put the key in. It stuck. It would not move either way. "Huh." He said, stumped.

"Fiyero please just open the door. Please." Elphaba begged. He looked round at her and she was a distressing shade of green. The spark had gone from her eyes. Her expression terrified him, second only to the invincible pain he had witnessed her bear in childbirth. He put his hands on her shoulders and told her to stand to the side. He had the housekeeper go back inside and call the Gale Force.

Elphaba swallowed. Fiyero slammed his foot into the middle of the wood, just below the stained and frosted glass of the window. It swung back, tearing the lock from the walls with it.

"Oh! Oh god! What?"

Elphaba clutched at Liir, still oblivious to the sight before them. Any smudge of blood would have set their hearts racing, but the streaks and pools of it on the carpet were inhuman. Elphaba crushed a voice in her head that told her no one could survive after so much loss. She did not know if she meant blood loss, or the loss of a friend. She did not want to know.

"Galinda!" She screamed. Lights turned on in the houses not far from them. She began to sob. More quietly she said, "Galinda, please. Answer me!"

"Elphaba, now we have to go home. Come on, come with me. You can't go in there."

He hauled his wife and his son onto the couch in their living room and ordered the housekeeper to treat this house as her own. Make coffee, make food, make nice. There would be many people coming soon. If he had his way he would redirect the forces of the entire army.

"Fiyero, please. If it was me you would be in there right now."

"But it isn't. Elphaba we have no idea if there's still someone dangerous inside."

"And if there is then he's in there with Galinda! _Don't leave her alone, go and get her! GET HER!" _Liir began to cry and she gasped, rocking him slowly through her hysteria. She was right, of course. Had it been Elphaba no one could have stopped him. He wondered how good a man he was, not risking himself to make sure that if Galinda was still inside, she was safe.

But they did not have to wait long. In the time it took to call his parents back from their halfway completed journey to the Vinkus the officers had arrived and he kissed his wife and made his way inside the house. With rapidly beating hearts they covered the blood in cloths and inched their way around corners and cupboards, quickly confirming that the gardens, the ground floor and the basement were clear.

He tried to check Galinda's bedroom first, but they held him back before he could enter. When they finally let him through, he passed an officer screaming for medical assistance immediately. He shoved invisible forces aside and threw himself inside. He tried to vocalise his terror, his grief, but all that emerged were the choked and distressed coughs of a broken man.

Galinda lay unconscious. Paralysed, it seemed, on her bed. Her arms were slit in horizontal lines across her unnaturally white skin. That alone, would have worried him. But it was the head trauma, the patchy blood on her temples and her splayed legs revealing what looked to his distorted vision like a black cloth that shone red wherever the light hit it. Her abdomen down to her thighs was covered in blood. But it was dried and too dark for him to see what had really happened to her. He looked away, grateful for the man who brought the cloth in to cover her up.

"Galinda?" He asked gently.

Her eyes flickered. "Please, is it over? Stop, please." She whispered, weakly. Still in a daze of terror, she left him again. He held onto her hand even as they loaded her into the ambulance and he and Elphaba rode with them to the infirmary.

"This has a horrible sense of déjà vu about it, Fiyero." Elphaba said, rubbing her face with her hands as they sat in the family room of Galinda's ward. It was private, though she could have been treated in the Palace. Her doctor had insisted that until they could confirm her condition as stable she was better – safer – nearest the people and treatments that could help her should she take a turn for the worse. Strangely, this comforted Elphaba. It meant that she was better than 'the worse'.

Fiyero watched her, one foot rocking a cradle that held Liir who was out for his mid-morning nap. "Do you mean Mraic?"

"Yes." She said quickly, curtly. "Yes. Doesn't it feel like that for you? I feel so helpless." Her voice was cracking and breaking, but she was either sick of tears or just did not want to cry. Their grief seemed past crying. It seemed like a ridiculous show.

Fiyero linked their fingers and felt the warm reciprocation of her thumb ghosting his hand. "I do. She's safe, at least. And she fought; she fought tooth and nail for her life."

"She shouldn't have had to."

"No one should have to." He explained. "But if and when they do . . ." He let it drop; he had no idea how to finish the sentence. But Elphaba nodded anyway and shushed a crying Liir. "What did they say"

"You're right about her fighting. A lot of that blood wasn't hers. It couldn't have been. The doctor explained that she would not have survived otherwise."

"Whoever it was must be pretty beat up then. I'll make sure the Gale Force know. I've been on the phone while you were in there, and Evard is coordinating with the Munchkinland forces and those in Gillikin, Shiz, Quadling and right here to gather potential witnesses. As soon as she wakes up hopefully she can give us some kind of description."

Elphaba nodded. It brought them relief and hope and just some basic damn occupation to start working on and thinking about who had attacked Galinda. "Her cuts were superficial. She'll scar and heal and physically, she'll be fine." Physically, she thought. My beautiful blonde princess. You should have that title, not me. She gasped and Fiyero brought her into his arms.

"It's alright. Look, she's right there." He said, turning her towards Galinda's room, where they had left the door open for them to see. A single soft lamp cast golden shadows on the walls, floor and the white skin of their friend. She looked every part the Sleeping Beauty. Waiting for love's first kiss.

"Her parents are on their way." Elphaba said, sniffing into his shirt. He smelled of home and distracted her as long as she kept her eyes closed. He kissed her hair in response. "He never touched her face."

"Beg pardon?"

"Her face. You'd think a violent crime like that, that whoever it was would want to cause damage to her face." Fiyero waited. "That's part of her image, isn't it? She's beautiful. She's stunning. She's so porcelain. It just seems strange to me that the attacker would have another motive other than damaging her physical appearance." She frowned. "At least then we would have a list of people who held grudges against her. We've interviewed enough anti-Animal enthusiasts to know who hates her for her charm and all that."

"Yes, we would. And we _will_ seriously consider those people. The culprit could well have been one of those people but just lacked a flare for revenge and couldn't make enough of a mark on her."

"Enough of a mark?" She said, accusatorily.

"I mean physically, Fae. Obviously the objective here was mental and emotional destruction. The physical seems to have taken a bit of a back seat." She sheathed her metaphorical claws and rested against his back again. "Lord Hills!"

Fiyero shifted when he strode in and suddenly stopped dead in his tracks at the door. Apologising for his abruptness with a weak smile, he walked towards them.

Elphaba shot up, self-consciously smoothing her shift and her cardigan in front of the diplomat. He stood before them, anxious, nervous and tense. "Guirr, what a surprise." She said, shaking his hand. She almost gaped when she saw his face: grey and wasted. Elphaba had always thought him quite handsome. He was only thirty or thirty-five, she thought, but now he seemed to be showing his age. "You look awful." She said honestly, now feeling as though they were all on the same horrific page and forgetting about her shameful appearance.

Guirr peered past her quickly. Elphaba exchanged a confused look with Fiyero. "I um . . . I know I have no right to be here. I'm not family and as her closest friends I know you wouldn't say I was important to her." He swallowed. "She's important to me."

Elphaba gripped onto her husband. "He's heartbroken." She whispered from the corner of her mouth. Fiyero nodded once in agreement. Guirr was a mirror image of Fiyero when Elphaba had been hospitalised.

Maybe it was just because they were all on edge, but even the tenuous connections betweens Mraic's attack on Elphaba and Galinda's attack were becoming too hard to ignore.

Elphaba choked as she stepped into the role of hostess-of-the-hospital, she could hear Galinda's disembodied voice cheerfully feeding her tips of her trade as she sat Guirr down and brought him tea. No coffee, Galinda warned, for it will only make the guests more anxious!

"May I see her?" He asked gently.

Elphaba turned to Galinda's room: the door had been closed while they performed more tests, check-ups and what they promised were routine reports. "They're just having another look at her. I'll take you in when they're finished." She promised, knowing they all needed to be with her.

Guirr and Fiyero and Elphaba made small talk which mostly orbited around Liir until, mercifully, the Doctor came to announce they were finished. Elphaba began to lead their guest into the room, but she was stopped.

"Madame, please, a word?" He said, gesturing to the family room which was empty now even of Liir, who squirmed a little in his father's arms. Elphaba nodded and smiled bravely at her husband and sought comfort from the happy noise of play that her son made.

"What's the matter? I mean, other than the obvious." She added, remembering herself.

The Doctor licked his upper lip and clucked his tongue in a business-like manner. "Her scars are healing nicely. She seems to be in more of a sleep: she has woken up a few times and dozed off. The concussion will need a few days to be slept off."

Elphaba exhaled and inhaled again. "Good, good to hear. But there's a but." She began and watched him confirm her suspicions.

He crossed his legs. "The markings, the cuts, on her thighs, though superficial as we suspected are not . . . um, random." He said, with an unwanted inflection on 'random' that only made her breathe faster.

"Not random?"

"They spell out a – well we assume it's a name. The orderly thinks she's heard it before from somewhere. Actually it unnerved her, on another level to the morbidity of the attack itself."

Elphaba felt impatient. "Well what name is it then? What name?"

The Doctor flipped his chart over to her, where they had copied down the exact markings which Galinda bore. Elphaba's stomach lurched painfully and she shook, dropping the papers and then grabbing them again. As though they were on fire, but she had to have them. The orderly had indeed heard that name before, in newspaper reports which documented the terrible attack on a promising valedictorian female student at Shiz University by a young male, though it was some years ago now.

"Mraic. They spell Mraic. Fiyero! _Fiyero!" _She yelled, running to him, her hands shaking, her body shivering despite the pleasant warmth of the ward. She shoved the evidence under his nose, casting glances towards Galinda, as though this discovery would trigger her re-awakening.

"Shit." He said, wanting to cover his face but being prevented by the heavy weight of his son. What they all would give to be in his blissfully ignorant state at that moment. "Take him, take him and stay here. I'll make the calls, I'll do it Elphaba. They'll need your case file." Elphaba lifted her son into her arms and brought a second chair to Galinda's bedside, where she would be afforded a good view of her husband as he phoned every influential body whose number he could recall off by heart.

She nodded too quickly to really comfort him. "Yes. Yes. And, and he'll be beat up. He'll be injured, won't he? That's what you said?" Fiyero agreed with her, even though he could not actually remember which of them had said that first. It was moments ago. A half hour ago. Was that a time either of them wanted to return to? Was it better now having a lead? Yes, it was. It would have to be.

Fiyero made the phone calls. He sent couriers to his brother, and to the Wizard. He turned the family room into something of an office and once it had been written up in a report, he had Galinda's house vaporized of any physical evidence of a crime. Fiyero sat Elphaba down for a few precious minutes to check statements they would issue to the press to be printed.

They were each in turn interviewed by those conducting the investigation into Galinda's attack. Every detective was handed photographic evidence of the name that had been torn into Galinda's skin. A photograph taken whilst Galinda's parents were briefed in a separate room by their daughter's Doctor. Elphaba was relieved that they seemed not to question the presence of Lord Hills, though it was clear they knew as much about the relationship as Elphaba and Fiyero.

All the while their friend slept. Elphaba talked to Guirr when Fiyero was away, as he had no one else. He indulged her with the secrets of their relationship and she felt a strong friendship between them forging. He was like her: he did not cry over Galinda. He was strong and loyal to her. Though he did not say it, Elphaba and Fiyero could both see he had fallen in love and just missed his chance to tell her.

A sharp and brutal pain came over Fiyero when he began to write up Galinda's pronouncement, and then realised she would be unable to perform her duties. Someone would have to. And it would have to be someone who Mraic would see.

And Elphaba, all the while she nursed her son, and walked him in the gardens of the infirmary, felt an uncontrollable urge to take to her broom. She would bring that bastard down.

For Galinda. For herself. For her husband. For her son.

* * *

><p><em>Yeah, hard-ass Elphaba. Defying GravityNo Good Deed Elphaba. Every reviewer earns a ride with her on her broom or a little jaunt in Glinda's bubble. _


	14. For Galinda

**_Author's Note: _**_I disclaim, yadah yadah!_

_Wow! You all seemed to love the drama! Well, it got you reviewing anyway and I couldn't be happier! It's so nice to hear from you all, thank you so much. I have never loved opening my emails more than I do now *smiles*_

_As I said before, I hope you love drama because I would just hate to lure you into a false sense of security . . . *wink*_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>Elphaba steadied herself on a divan chair in the balcony room that opened out onto the crowds and crowds of people who had gathered to hear her speak. It was a first, but Galinda could not make this speech. She remained sleepy and apart from them all in her soft-lit hospital room. Fiyero had written her this address and they both knew how significant her delivery would be. As with every other speech and appearance that had taken place on the balcony, it would be broadcast everywhere. Much like Galinda's television interview. Elphaba breathed in deeply and visualised her sweet blonde best friend for strength and memory.<p>

"I can't do this without you. Let's hope I've been paying attention to you all these years." She said. Fiyero laughed with her, taking her hand. "Well, Liir, I hope you never remember any of this." She cupped his face with her hands, enjoying the softness of his brand new little face. They had taken him everywhere with them, despite Nanda's insistence that being carted from the hospital to the Palace was not good for him. They reminded her swiftly that he would not be aware of what was happening around him, evidenced by his happy squeals whenever a new person appeared over him. Besides, the day Elphaba and Fiyero let him out of their sight when a criminal was on the loose would be the day hell froze over.

A few minutes of silence passed, then a soft-spoken young voice came. "Madame? We're ready for you." It was the General of the Army Proper, uniformed handsomely and accompanied by the director of the television broadcast, clad in a tweed brown suit and starched ruffled shirt.

Elphaba nodded. They would stand out on the balcony, Fiyero flanking her on her right hand side, just a few steps back. The entire city square was packed, people shoving and pushing, but they were mixed with plain-clothes officers and soldiers on high ground, armed. Elphaba was not stupid enough to place all her eggs of trust in one basket, though. She had exhausted herself in the early morning, enchanting the invisible boundaries of the balcony to fabricate as protective a shield as she could weave. There was no way for her to know how powerful or effective it would be, unless the worst case scenario came to fruition.

As Elphaba stood, she caught Oscar in her peripheral vision. He was painfully stooping in her presence. "Don't do that. I'm your daughter. This isn't a time for us. This is for Galinda. You are the Wizard of Oz. Act like it." She made him stand and rest on a wing chair. She did not exactly know where she stood as his daughter, but she was not about to deny it; she knew what it was like to be without a real family. Anyway, Liir loved him. He was more of a grandfather to him that Frex, who had not even seen his grandson.

Elphaba and Fiyero shared a kiss, and handed Liir to a silent Nanda, who smiled cleanly at them. "Best of luck, my dear."

"Thank you." Elphaba replied, positioning herself with pride at the closed and curtained doors. Footmen held the doorknobs, though she could easily have magicked them open herself. However, that was how it would be, and she wore her fiercest expression to match her fierce dress, and her fierce love for her friend.

They had expected the crowd to be in uproar when she emerged, but since they had had no previous experience of the Vizier taking centre stage other than as a silent partner on her wedding day and other Galinda-held occasions, they stunned into a hushed silence. This did not faze Elphaba. It empowered her.

She launched in, not doubting the strength of her voice for a minute. Fiyero stood near her, reflecting her clarity of mind and watching the many faces of the crowd.

"We do not tolerate attacks on our people. This government has worked tirelessly to rectify the mistakes of previous administrations and we not about to be stopped in our tracks. We have issued descriptions, photographs and plans of action to every single citizen, every household, very border guard and public officer. We will stop at nothing to bring him to account for what he has done."

"Many people have come forward in the days since the press release confirming that he is behind many Animal crimes, and various acts of aggression towards innocent and helpless citizens. That he continues to walk the soil of Oz whilst Galinda Upland lies unconscious in her bed is unforgivable. I will not stand for it."

Fiyero swallowed at the sight and sound of so many men and women visibly grieving for the health of their beloved leader. It was only fitting, though, he thought. Galinda had made a supreme effort to visit as many citizens as often as she could, sometimes dragging a reluctant and nervous Elphaba with her.

"I ask you personally to think of Galinda Upland as your friend. She was the first woman to befriend me, and she remains to this day a woman with a very special and significant place in my heart. You know the rewards for information pertaining to this investigation and I can see how much you care for her. As a cornerstone of Oz, she deserves to have her attacker brought to justice. Thank you."

Then they applauded. Oh they cheered until, after four minutes of it, Elphaba turned and the doors were closed behind them.

Nanda handed Elphaba her son, and his parents cooed over him, their hearts awash with a nervous relief.

"If they don't hunt him down and serve his head on a silver platter to you by the end of the day, I shall be very much surprised." Oscar said, leaning forward and addressing Elphaba. To her surprise, she laughed. For the first time in many days.

* * *

><p>Though the success of the public announcement was visible everywhere from the repeats and replays on the public television and radio, to the billboards and posters erected everywhere which showed catchphrases of Elphaba's speech along with an intimidating picture of her (which she was certain had been made to look more beautiful than it was), when they returned to the hospital and saw that Galinda had not improved and heard that no significant developments had been made in the investigation, it seemed that the whole thing had been nothing but a pathetic publicity stunt.<p>

Guirr spent most of his time in the head offices of the Palace, coordinating the manhunt with Elphaba and Fiyero as they performed bed duties. He found soon after he arrived that he could not sit and do nothing. If there was something to be done in the development of the investigation then he would be at the forefront. Or at least writing transcripts of interviews with Mraic's other victims.

Fiyero remained almost attached to the telephone. He had mapped out how far Mraic could have gone from Galinda's house once he had been so badly injured. There was absolutely no chance that he had made it out of the Emerald City. They had found streaks and drips of his blood leading out the back entrance of the house and through the gardens of several other neighbours. He had been very badly bleeding. By the time he would have made it to the gates out of the city, they had had them closed. Every public mode of transportation had been called in and the city was in an eerie sense of lockdown.

"I wish you'd wake up, Lin."

Elphaba sat next to the bed, in a room that seemed to elongate with sadness. She had reverted to using her friend's nickname. She had not liked it much, but then Elphaba reminded her blonde beauty that she did not much care for Elphie, either. So it was only fair.

"Li-in." She sang, playing with her hands. Galinda's manicured nails were broken and cut. She would have a manicurist brought in to fix them, she thought, when she checked her toes and saw that her toenails were damaged, too.

"Of course, you would stubbornly refuse to wake up just when everybody is calling out for you. I think we're spending too much time together." She joked, turning to Liir. "What do you think, baby?"

He raised his brow at her expectantly and she tickled him lightly with her fingers. She blew bubbles and he giggled. "Oh listen to you laugh! Listen to you laugh!" She sang again. "Aunt Galinda, you're missing all the fun."

"She'll be kicking herself when she wakes up."

Elphaba looked up from her son to see Guirr standing in the doorway. She signed and smiled. "Dare I ask after any developments?"

"You know you would be the first person called if there were."

Elphaba grimaced. Silence. "I don't understand where he is. No one vanishes into thin air. Somewhere in this oz-forsaken land he occupies a place in space and time and we're going to find him." She paused. Guirr stared into the middle distance. "I just don't know how or when."

He nodded curtly. His hands held each other and he focused on Galinda. For a second, his eyes brightened. "It's such a beautiful evening." Elphaba turned and peered through the glass, observing how the dusk had painted the sky a soft and musky pink. The blue was disappearing, and the trees swayed heavily. He was right. "Galinda would never have wasted an evening like this."

Elphaba tried not to cry when Guirr gave in to tears. He held his head in his hands. "You're right." She said, an idea, a distraction occurring to her. "She would never forgive for staying indoors at a time like this. The hospital has a roof garden, and you and I are going to take Liir on a walk."

"What?" He asked, confused and forgetting his good breeding.

"Come with us." She begged, rolling Liir up warmly and wrapping him around her chest again. She sat him up this time, as he was awake, so he could see his surroundings. It seemed to please him when he babbled and bubbled on her shoulder. "Please? Guirr, it's better than watching a pot. They never cook that way, you know."

He tutted, which she assumed was a concession to her offer. "Why not? A walk with the Vizier and the little Prince. Not many are so privileged as to be granted such an illustrious audience."

"Ha, indeed they certainly are not." She agreed. They continued their little pretence of joy up to the roof. It was an isolated and reflective place. Perfect, really, for their purposes. Guirr fetched a throw and they sat on a bench, lucky and quite happy to catch the sunset. "It's like a homage to her, every night. The rosy pink."

"Indeed. I only hope to see that colour in her cheeks again in the very near future." He said hopefully.

"Do you love her?" She asked honestly, wishing for an equally frank response. Though he had discussed or rather, briefly mentioned, before that he and Galinda had been on formal dates, not much detail had been revealed.

"She didn't tell you about me, you know, because she was afraid she was coming on too strong." Elphaba laughed: how un-Galinda like of her. "It made me think that she perhaps felt more strongly for me than she had for any other man. In any case, I had fallen in love with her by then. For me, taking her to dinner and the theatre, having tea and talking were my perhaps glib attempts to court her."

Elphaba knew what he meant. She was not hurt by the knowledge that Galinda was in or at least getting into a serious and important relationship about which her best friend knew nothing. "She didn't tell me, but I could _see_ how happy she was. Now that I think about it, she has been happier in recent weeks than I have ever seen her. Before I found out about you I selfishly thought it was thanks to Liir." She admitted, more than a little embarrassed. Her cheeks were red, but it was cold on the roof anyway.

"Oh it was because of Liir. She loves him very much. And you, and Prince Fiyero."

"Please, just Fiyero and Elphaba. I've told you, no formalities. It's highly unnecessary, Guirr." She said, smiling as softly as she could. She knew there was little happiness in her eyes and it must have fallen flat.

"Well, she loved you and Fiyero, and little Liir." He repeated. "I never told her I loved her." He said, his face descending into a melancholy darkness. "I never thought I would have to say it before it was . . . well."

"Please don't finish that. It's never too late; she's going to be fine. And we all think that about love. I look back on the time I met Fiyero and I curse at myself for taking so long to realise I loved him. But that's just the way it goes." She said, lifting Liir this way and that as he was fascinated by each object both behind and in front of him. "If I or Fiyero had pushed the relationship it might not have turned out as well as it has."

"That's true." He admitted.

"Tell me: before this attack had you said even to yourself that you were in love with her? Had you actually acknowledged that it was love?"

He thought. "No." He shook his head, appreciating her point. "It was when I saw her in here. I thought 'she can't die, I'm in love with her' and then I knew."

She sighed, thinking for a split-second how big Liir had gotten. He was one month old soon, and a bit of a rapid developer. Though truthfully many strangers commented on how tiny he was. Oh well, maybe just to her, then. "Maybe then, that's what you should focus on. The little ray of light in all this."

"I will. Thank you, Elphie." He winked at her.

"Call me that one more time and I will make sure your family name ends with you." She said, hoping he caught her slightly mirthful tone. Although she was partly serious.

"Never again." He said, wearing a bigger smile than she had seen on him in months. It reminded her of the one he boasted when he had been speaking with Galinda at their wedding. Thinking on it, they had actually spent rather a large portion of that evening together. "I would very much someone to rush out here now, and tell us that she's woken up."

"Me too."

Liir cried then. His face was red and wet and they went inside. "Ssh, what's the matter now?" She cooed, unable to comfort him. "I don't want him to disturb her parents." She said, when they saw that her family had taken places at her bedside.

"I should go home, too. Though Oz knows I'll never be able to sleep." Elphaba turned to shake his hand, and watched him leave, dragging his feet.

Liir continued to wail. "Baby don't cry." She soothed him, singing softly, rocking him and then sitting still as a lake with him. She tried laying him down in the hospital-provided crib. She gave up when he screamed at the loss of contact, and bound him up securely in her arms. She made sure he was clean, she tried to nurse him but he would not take her breast. She checked for the first buds of baby teeth, but his gums were red as roses.

"Well well well, why in Oz are you making so much noise?" Fiyero said playfully, bounding into the room towards his son.

Elphaba thrust Liir into Fiyero's arms. "Take him for Oz' sake. Where the hell have you been? He's been crying for almost an hour and I just can't –"

"Hey, it's alright. I'm sorry. I didn't want to leave the nurses' station awash with paperwork."

"No, no you're right. That was important." She sighed and held her hands over her ears. She may as well have had Liir cry through a microphone for all the good it did.

Fiyero saved her the guilty explanation, however, when he spoke what she had been thinking. "We have to go home now, Fae." She looked at him, brow furrowed and eyes squinting through the painful beginnings of a headache. "You know as well as I do that he needs his own bed and I sure as hell wouldn't mind a night sleeping in our house, in our room, next to my wife." She nodded, but stared out into the middle distance.

"Alright." She conceded, taking his hand and sniffing. Fiyero bit the inside of his mouth when he saw the deep sunken bags under her eyes. She still was not fully recovered from giving birth. He should have forced her home earlier. Deep down, he knew that her very recent motherhood was the only reason why she had not taken to the skies to find Mraic herself.

It was only a matter of time, he thought, before he woke up next to an empty bed.

* * *

><p>"I have never wanted to sleep with you more than I do right now."<p>

Fiyero grinned and held her closer. They had high-tailed it home after each giving Galinda a kiss on the cheek. Liir fell sound asleep in the rise home, obviously soothed by the rocking of the carriage and the gentle patter of the rain that began as soon as they stepped foot outside.

Mercifully, the baby slept even as they dressed him for bed. Together, Fiyero taking the principal role, holding an entire arm or leg in one hand as he removed his romper suit and buttoned him into a baby grow, as he lay on Elphaba's lap. They put him down carefully and tip-toed silently, eagerly into bed.

"I love you, sweetheart." He whispered in response. Delightfully, she took it upon herself to please him that evening, and the new family slept better than they ever expected.

When Elphaba woke in the morning, she rolled over to find that Fiyero had gone downstairs. He left her a note with an overly-happy face that winked at her from the paper. She laughed and made the effort to peek at Liir's crib, which was empty. Bless him, he's even taken Liir, she thought. She dozed sleepily for another hour before she slowly made her way downstairs to the kitchen, following the as of yet still forbidden-to-her smell of coffee.

"Morning." She said, yawning. Fiyero kissed her cheek. She looked around, frowning a little and trying to focus her tired eyes. "I'm so glad you convinced me to come home."

"We won't be any use to Galinda if when she wakes up, we look like the living dead."

"I second that." She inhaled the coffee perfume . "So where'd you put Liir? Is he bringing in eggs from the pantry?" She joked.

"What?"

"Where's Liir?" She repeated, as if he had lost his mind. She looked up at him, but he was staring at her, wearing a very confused expression. "I woke up and his crib was empty, so what, is he in the living room?"

She began to shake, from the core of her body as his face turned white. "Elphaba, when I came downstairs I left Liir in his crib."

* * *

><p><em>Oh no . . . <em>


	15. If Only

**_Author's Note: _**_I disclaim, blah blah!_

_In answer to your questions, what's a fanfic without a little sadism? You *know* you love the cliffhangers! I felt all empowered by the end of this one, so enjoy!_

* * *

><p>They had crashed upstairs, screaming his name hysterically and finding the air was thinner and thinner with every breath. Fiyero's breathing was ragged as Elphaba showed him the very empty crib and he reached down to unfold a dirty piece of paper.<p>

Elphaba shook uncontrollably as they read the note left for them in place of their son.

_I watched you every day. I will watch you lose everything. Mraic._

Elphaba collapsed onto the floor, grabbing at anything and at a loss as to what she should do. Nothing now, could ever bring her comfort until she held her baby again. Fiyero saw her fall, and silently picked her up and dialed the telephone.

"Father?" His voice cracked. "Get . . . come here. He took Liir." He let go. "Oh god, Pap he took our son!" The phone fell from his hands and pressed another number, Galinda's, before shaking his head and being connected to his General Officer.

Where the hell was their son?

"Elphaba, we have to go the station. Should I, should I pack anything? What should I do?"

How had he gotten in?

Elphaba could not hear what he said. She heard nothing, and was not aware of anyone, really. Fiyero stood helplessly in front of her and just took the blanket from Liir's crib in case she wanted it later. Elphaba was fairly certain that Nanda had dressed her and they had been brought back to the hospital, but she was unable to say for certain.

Someone took her into an examination room and must have asked her a few questions. She could not remember. She did not care. She clung onto Fiyero and begged him to bring their son back. She sobbed into her mother-in-law's shoulder in the waiting room as they related the moments leading up to their realisation that Liir had been taken.

Why would he take their son?

Fiyero stared bug-eyed at his parents as if they would suddenly produce Liir from behind their backs. Minas stepped in place of his distraught son, and contacted Oscar, demanding that he make his way to the hospital as soon as possible.

Eventually they were released back into the relentless oblivion of waiting with little hope. Fiyero took Elphaba's hand and they walked step by step, up to Galinda's floor. They arrived having taken longer than was necessary, breathless and defeated.

"They've cordoned off the neighbourhood." Fiyero said. It was a rather pointless thing to say, Elphaba thought, but she just kept her mouth shut. "We should go see Galinda." Elphaba did not respond, she seemed utterly paralysed and her face was less a blank page than it was a tragic love story. She looked confused.

"Sure."

What was she supposed to do now?

* * *

><p>"Elphaba, we've been calling your house for two hours now! Where've you been?"<p>

Elphaba and Fiyero looked up at the sight of Galinda's mother, her face lit with glee and far, far too bright and happy. "I don't understand." She said, her voice grating on every ear. She sighed and scratched her head, though it was not itching. Just something to do.

"Well, for goodness sake, she's awake isn't she?"

"I beg your pardon?" Elphaba asked, aghast. She stepped aside and into the room where Guirr sat at Galinda's side, Galinda who was sitting up, smiling and handing him a half-empty cup of tea. She looked up at Elphaba.

"Elphie!"

Elphaba stared at her friend, entirely unsure of what she felt. Was this a good sign? That a situation which had seemed so awful and hopeless had turned out just as they had prayed it would, did that mean that in a few days their son would be returned to them, safe, well, and happy?

Galinda's face had been a direct copy of her mother's, but when she looked at Elphaba she saw the sallow and sunken skin and the cheeks stained by innumerable tears. In the silence that came over them she heard the ragged breathing from her and Fiyero. "Elphie?" She asked gently. Elphaba walked to her side and sat on the bed, taking her into the softest embrace she had ever experiences. "Elphie, you don't have to be so gentle; I won't break!" She joked.

"He took my son." She breathed.

"What was that?" Galinda asked, making a face at Fiyero and then regretting it as she saw that he, too, looked thirty years older. A loud voice in her head told her that it was not to do with her attack and slow recovery.

"Liir's missing." Elphaba said, and finally cried onto Galinda's shoulder. Her grip increased and Galinda held her tighter, too.

Guirr brought a chair up for Fiyero, who sat opposite from his wife, struggling to maintain his composure now that Elphaba was in tears. "What happened?" Guirr inquired, keeping his voice low and directed towards Minas, who at the moment looked like the only one who would be able to hold a coherent conversation.

"Well it looks as though Mraic had been watching them for a while. In their garden we found evidence that he'd been squatting for some time. It was well hidden until now. This morning he scaled the walls and broke into the master bedroom when Fiyero was downstairs and Elphaba was asleep." He explained sternly. Galinda closed her eyes, tears flowing from her eyes now, too.

"Do you have any idea where he might be?" She asked hopefully, stroking Elphaba's hair and whispering ineffective platitudes into her ear. Minas shook his head.

"They think he's still very badly injured, but now we have to take into consideration the possibility that he might have other people working with him." He continued, taking yet another seat for himself nearer the window.

No one spoke. It was as though speaking would insult the gravity of the loss and rudely interrupt the desperate wails of Elphaba, as she muttered senseless facts into Galinda's arms. Fiyero watched her from his chair, wanting so much to be a comfort to her, but unable to move, terrified that if he touched her she would shove him away. He could not face the possibility of rejection from her now. He would rather live in ignorance. Do not provoke her, he thought over and over.

They remained in that purgatorial state for three hours.

* * *

><p>Elphaba stood too quickly, and swayed with head rush for a second or two. No one rose to help her, though Fiyero had to bite his tongue to stop himself. For the whole day, Galinda had been her only refuge and the only person whom she would give the time of day. Elphaba did not even know why, but she could not look at Fiyero.<p>

Maybe it was anger. He should not have left him there when he knew Elphaba would be so fast asleep that not even an earthquake would have woken her. She perhaps blamed him for neglecting them when he was most needed, and for breaking his promise to her that he would protect them.

Maybe it was guilt. She should have known. What kind of mother would have allowed someone to take her son while she indulged in such a petty privilege as sleep.

She wanted to sleep then. She would have loved to rest her head, but until she found her son alive and well, she would deny herself every luxury. Even that of the presence of her husband. Call it penance or punishment, she thought. I will not rest.

She itched to take to her broom, but the aching and pinching pain had not yet gone, and she knew that even a short spell in the air would bring her to her knees. What good could she do her son then, if he came home to only one parent?

Wandering, she did not know where her feet would take her, but eventually she stood in the very spot where she had sat with Guirr. Liir had been restless, too entranced by all the things around him.

What did he see now?

She cried silently into her hands. Alone.

"Elphaba?"

She sniffed. Fiyero stood at the door. She wondered how long he had been standing there, but did not bother to ask.

He stalled at asking 'how are you' or 'are you alright'. Stupid questions. "May I . . . sit here?" He ventured, taking tentative steps towards her. He thought she nodded, though it was slight and she was turned away from him. He disregarded doubt and took his place next to her.

Blankly, he joined in with her and they silently shared their grief, one parent to another.

Whispering, and with little courage, Fiyero broached conversation after the silence became too painful for him. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

Hearing him admit failure brought another stab to her heart, to meet with those that had been piercing it since that morning, and she cursed herself for ever blaming him. Seeing the sadness in his eyes as she risked eye contact made her remember how much he would do for them. How selfish she had been.

She choked an apology and they clung to each other. "What are we going to do? What if we never find him?" She asked.

He could hear how terrified she was to voice that fear. He pulled her closer, and kissed her on the mouth. "I don't know. I'm sorry, I . . . just don't know."

* * *

><p>"I can't imagine what's going to happen to them." Galinda wondered out loud. Guirr handed her a third cup of tea. She sipped it. "Oh Oz it's so awful."<p>

"At least they're together. I was on edge watching Fiyero gaze after her." He said, drinking his own steaming cup. "It's the darkest hour."

Galinda frowned. "But what could he want with Liir? He didn't even say anything to me when he –" She swallowed, feeling Guirr's hand take her own. "At least I think he didn't. I know I came in and out of consciousness. Although remembering what he said to Elphaba when he tried to rape her, I'm not surprised he is so fixated on torturing us all." She rubbed her hand against her mouth. "I just want to know if Liir is alright."

"We all do."

"Where is my daughter?" Came an unfamiliar and booming voice from the hallway and into Galinda's shocked presence. She smiled at the sight of Oscar, surprised that she was pleased to see him. Was it his no nonsense, direct approach to everything that he had taken on recently? Perhaps it would be good for Elphaba.

"She's on the roof with Fiyero, Oscar." Galinda informed him, pasting a smile on her face, hoping not to dampen whatever it was that was holding the old man together.

Galinda and Guirr exchanged raised brows, but moments later he returned from his errand with both parents to show for his efforts. Elphaba looked scared, but as though she were a schoolgirl and he her father about to lecture her on candies missing from the cupboard. Magically, there was some sparkle in her eyes.

Oscar sat Elphaba down on a chair and held her there with hands on her shoulders. "This is not the Elphaba Thropp I know."

"My name is Elphaba Tiggular." She reprimanded him.

Oscar laughed and corrected himself. "Regardless, what is this I hear about you moping around while your son is out there, waiting for you to find him?"

"Oscar, that's not cool." Fiyero warned him, in a voice that gave Galinda shivers; she had never heard such an angry tone from him before. "How dare you."

"You know," he began, turning to face Fiyero, "it's about time you realised what it is this Mraic person wants. It's you, and your wife. You prevented him from succeeding last time and now he wants revenge. So if you want to find your son you're going to have get a little bit more proactive." Oscar spat, pointing an accusatory finger at Fiyero.

"Don't you think we've thought about that?" Elphaba shouted, surprising them all and standing fiercely in her defence. "For Oz' sake I've been pouring over every detail of our knowledge of him. Analysing every single piece of information I can possible remember!" She hissed, tears in her eyes bur her voice more powerful than ever. "_My son is missing! _I can't fly, and I _will not _risk any more members of my family to this sociopath!" She screamed, glaring wide-eyed at Oscar.

"But you aren't doing your son any favours by sitting in here!" Oscar insisted. "Come on, Elphaba. Why do you think so many people look up to you? Why do you think that Mraic is so obsessed with you? He hates your success and he wants to bring you down!"

Elphaba reeled away from him into Fiyero's arms. He hugged her.

"Elphaba, you do not want to look back on this and think . . . _if only._"

Steeling her body for pain, Elphaba grabbed her broom, told Galinda to ready her bubble and as they ascended, saw Fiyero rallying the largest manhunt in history on horseback with his father at his side.

The three powers of Oz, unstoppable and magnificent.

* * *

><p><em>*Plays 007 Theme* :D<em>


	16. Liir

**_Author's Note: _**_I disclaim._

_I'm really loving writing this story, and I have four others that are currently in progress but that I want to finish before I publish them so that you don't have to wait for updates (assuming of course that you want to read them!). __I am back at uni now, so I'm trying to keep this going as regularly as possible but it might mean you have to wait just a bit longer than usual. However, don't worry, you have my word that I am not going to abandon this story by any stretch of the imagination :)_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>Before they flew out in haste, Minas had briefed them on the proper approach with men like this, handing them packs which contained the most recent maps of Oz, detailed with those people they knew had been sympathetic to Mraic in the past; his friends and family in the city. It listed possible whereabouts and places of secretion. No doubt they must have had a woman with them to feed Liir. Unless of course they intended to let him die, or had already killed him, but this was a fear no one dared voice.<p>

"Keep yourself cloaked, Elphaba. They will see Galinda and hear Fiyero, but you are the invisible arm of Oz and you are there to strike when they are most vulnerable. You must be aware of traps. They will be playing on your weaknesses as his mother. And yours, as his father, Fiyero."

Minas' words rang in their ears as they departed. Galinda soared in her bubble, finding the strength to do so from her determination to see them restored to peace. She heard women and children gasp and cheer at her as they saw her, and she took post watching over them, sending out a spell to search for frightened or secret souls.

Fiyero charged out with his father. They were to cut down the denser areas of forests and fields in the city and its outskirts. They made raids on known criminal dens, houses and flats and drab and broken buildings that had already been searched and would be considered 'safe'. People parted in the streets for them.

Elphaba whipped into the sky quietly, barely stirring the air around her. She was surprised at how little it hurt her to be astride and noted with pleasure that she could release that fear from her heart. Fiyero's farewell kiss to her lingered on her lips, hot and wet and full of passion. She felt at that moment that there was no force to stop them, with love like theirs at stake.

Secreted in the clouds and hovering silently, Elphaba felt for her pack. There was water and food, a blanket, a knife (whether for eating or attack was unclear, she could use it for both) and the Grimmerie. Galinda had shoved it to her before she left, with a smirk in her eyes, reminding her of her mysterious ways with sorcery that she had often been jealous of when they were at Shiz.

If only they could go back. But we can never go home again, she thought. We are always speeding forward at a pace we can neither sustain nor rectify. It's just life, she thought, smiling sadly.

In the years since they had been in government, releasing Animals left, right and centre, Animals of all shapes, sizes and breeds, Elphaba had made many significant friendships which, at this moment in crisis, came in handy in innumerable ways. The moment preceding flight, Elphaba called a flock of Sky Larks to her knee. The select few had been in service to the Mail Carriers prior to the Animal Adverse Laws, but since their release Elphaba had offered them positions in Political Office. They flew errands for her when she could find no one else to make emergency posts.

Now, they had been drafted in to relay messages between the three rulers of Oz.

The first showed up an hour into her flight and informed her of the progress of her husband's raids. "They followed a lead to the Florinthwaite Club." The Bird told.

She did not try to hide her shock. "The _Florinthwaite Club_?" She hissed, as if anyone would hear them. As if the clouds had ears. "How in Oz? Galinda, Fiyero and I go to that club almost three times a week." She thought a minute. "He did take Liir right out from under us, though. I suppose he had eyes and ears everywhere."

"Fortunately not everywhere." The Bird began, picking and tucking at some feathers. "Or this would not have been half so productive." She waited, itching to know. "They followed one of the manservants from the club way across town to the West, near the Quadling Quarter. You're to slink around the Corn Exchange. We think they might be there."

"Thank you." She said, earnestly. She fed him seed from her pack, which he accepted gratefully, knowing she scarcely had enough and could barely feed herself. The Bird pecked at her cheek and flew off.

It would be foolish to swoop down over the Quadling Quarter when the sun still sat so high, and especially following a path even slightly resembling that of the Sky Lark. She waited, braying like a horse biting at the bit to start the race. She kept a slow pace circling the city until the sun fell below the horizon and the black, angry moon took its place as King of the night. She smirked, whispering a spell to mask the sounds of her movement through the air and descended eagerly to the listing, cold, and dank warehouses that made up the Corn Exchange.

Elphaba wrapped herself in shawls and skirts and knew she was swathed in invisibility. She held back a cackle; a complacent attitude would get her anywhere. She knew at any second she could be ambushed, and she felt the fine hairs on her neck stand and turn into bristles. Masking her breath, she lowered herself further so she could peer into the windows of the ground floor rooms. If she thought it was safe she could have placed both feet on the ground and walked. But if she saw Liir, she would grab him and get out of there faster than a bullet. Mounted on the broom, she felt safer.

The night air was painfully quiet, but the people inside were blissfully unaware and went about their tasks of a regular night. Washing, cooking, shouting, making love and beating their naughty children. She winded past the scenes, checking each off and looking for that strayed manservant. In an hour, she cleared the ground floor. With a nervous heart, she lifted the handle and rose seven feet into the air to the first floor.

Her heart quickened, and her hands turned white as she gripped the wood. It splintered and dug into her skin. It was Mraic's voice: unmistakable.

"What?" He hissed. She heard him slam across the floor. He must have forced his poor victim up against the wall. She had peeped around the window frame, but now snapped it back. They were separated only by stone and plaster now. What she would give to break his neck at that moment. "They fucking saw you, didn't they?" He pushed again and she heard the man choke and scrape desperately at the smooth wall. "_Shit."_ He cursed, and dropped his hand. There was an immediate slide and thump. The manservant heaved in painful breaths and spluttered.

"I told you." He spat, crawling to a chair. "They did not follow me. At least not tonight." He clarified.

"And you are positive about this? I'll have your pathetic little neck if you're wrong."

The man laughed. Fairly brave of him, she thought, almost feeling some admiration. "If I'm wrong, and there's a legion of the Wizard's men out there, I highly doubt you'll have any such thing. They'll have _your_ neck tied to your balls before you can plead for mercy."

Mraic did not react to the snide remark. He sighed and Elphaba heard him gulp some disgusting sounding liquid from a pewter mug. They were obviously alone, and she braced herself to pounce on them, to fulfil the dark and damning joke of the moment before. But she stopped herself: Liir was quite clearly not here. She could not afford to silence them when she had no idea what they had done with her son.

"Well what else did you learn about them today?" Mraic asked, seeming calmer now.

"They're fucking broken. Apparently the green one won't even look at her husband. She'll learn to despise him if this goes on any longer. And he's afraid of touching her. He won't go near her, not even to comfort her." Mraic laughed and Elphaba bristled. I'll have more than his fucking neck, she promised herself. "So what is the aim of all this then, apart from to torture her?"

"Not quite sure if I'm honest." Mraic admitted, sounding proud. "Haven't decided if I'm to just kill the little bastard or demand a ransom for his safe return."

Elphaba thanked her stars and cried hot but silent tears: he was still alive, then. Aware she had let her guard down, she took a moment to ensure she was still alone and unwatched before pressing her ear up near the open window once more.

"You could do both." The manservant offered.

"I couldn't. If he dies, I die. I'm not fucking stupid. They'll hunt me down til kingdom come. So he stays alive until I can do something about that. I don't much fancy being at the mercy of those three."

"True."

"Well he's safe at the Mauntery then." Mraic said, fuelling Elphaba's racing heart. _The Mauntery? _She pictured it in her head. He would be safe there, and no Maunt was so concerned with the external world that she would be aware of their loss.

The manservant started. "Oh? Is that where you've stuffed him?" He said, sounding surprised. Elphaba almost credited the logic of Mraic. He trusted this man quite a bit, and yet had kept Liir's whereabouts almost to himself. Had she thought it safe, she would have called the Sky Lark. She would now have to wait until both men were sat down.

"The Maunts pay no attention to the news of the day in any case. And even if the more news-hungry of them do, the young and stupid ones can't read and don't care." She heard him plank into a chair, the feet scraping harshly on the floorboards. It must have left marks. She hardly cared. Licking her lips, she murmured her gleeful spell and waved her arms.

"So what, are they nursing him then?"

"I suppose so." He said dismissively. They shared a laugh. Mraic tossed a cloth across to his friend. "Clean yourself up. You've got spittle all over your face, you fucking animal."

The manservant chuckled. "Yeah? And whose fault is that? You've got a hideous temper. Thank Kumbricia that baby isn't here. He would have screamed his head off at your temper tantrums and given us all away well before now." He padded at his neck and face, dipping the rag in beer to better clear away wounds he could not see.

"Ha. I can just see the green one's sharp little face materialising at the fucking door." He joked, winking and nudging at an invisible companion on his left. "Eh?" He laughed. "Oh come on, can't you just see it? Look – oh fuck this." He cursed as he found it impossible for him to move. "How much of this stuff have I had? I can't even fucking stand!" He continued to jibe at his paralysis, but he really began to struggle even to let himself flop onto the floor. "Can you get up?"

Mraic started at the paleness of his snitch. He looked dead, but Mraic could see his eyes bulge and quiver and his muscles tense as he fought against the force that kept him to the chair as it battled with his flight or fight response. His stomach lurched and his head involuntarily snapped, following the terrified stare of the manservant.

There at the window he saw the sharp and furious face of Elphaba Thropp as she stood in all her power, an amused eyebrow raised in acknowledgement of Mraic.

"Hello there, Mraic."

* * *

><p>Galinda sat on a decidedly uncomfortable apple crate, picking at a luke warm can of mushy rice and spices she had been served by the well-meaning cook who had fed Fiyero and Minas and the rest of their group. Since night had fallen she could barely see above the lights of the Emerald City, so she descended and set up camp with them at a petty little Inn on some middling road in the south of the city.<p>

Fiyero's face was blank and hard. Galinda placed a cold hand on his knee. "She'll be alright." She said, meaning Elphaba, but Fiyero only nodded and kept his mouth shut. He spooned some food from his own can into his mouth and chewed. Galinda sighed.

Minas had spread out their map and crossed off the areas they had cleared. For a first day they had done quite well. He knew Fiyero was cursing himself for not taking this course of action sooner. The fear and shame was palpable. He could have cut it with a knife.

"Do you remember that dinner we had when Elphaba told Frex she was going to have a baby?" Galinda said, hoping that the fond memory would jolt Fiyero into conversation. "She was so frightened, and then we had that outburst!" She forced a giggle, patently false but it was better than silence.

Minas saw what she was doing. "I was very proud of her. She was always very good at masking nerves, except on that day." He chuckled.

"She was just so busy trying to hide her bump!" Galinda offered. She looked at Fiyero.

"A few days before she told me she was pregnant she had a vision about it. We were asleep and she shoved me awake thinking that our baby girl was crying." Galinda and Minas did not dare to move lest they disturb Fiyero. His lips barely seemed to move, his voice was hushed and mournful. "Of course I told her she was being ridiculous. She joked that she just thought I was being a bad father, ignoring the baby." He smiled and his voice cracked as he finished. "But then she said that couldn't have been true, because she was sure I would be a wonderful father."

He was telling this story ironically, obviously. In their hopeless situation it seemed like he was the worst father. Galinda dropped the conversation. Anything they said was bittersweet this evening and nothing could be done to lift the heavy shroud that sat on their drooping shoulders. It tore at Minas' heart to see his son like this.

"You know, when you were two years old, you went missing for three days." Minas told them, resting an old hand on his knee. Fiyero looked up. Well, that was a start. "Your mother and I were frantic. We could only stay at home and wait for someone in the search parties to find you. It was the dead of winter."

"I didn't know. I don't remember."

"You wouldn't." Minas said, noting the slight pick up in Fiyero's demeanour. "You were terrified when they found you and so ill we thought we would lose you." Suddenly, Fiyero saw himself in his father. The same sallow skin and sombre eyes. "I have never been in a more painful kind of hell."

Fiyero looked away: Minas' eyes were too searching for him now. He swallowed back hard tears and it hurt his throat. "A psychotic maniac is after my wife and my son. I have no idea where any of them are right now." He said, though not harshly. Minas understood he felt lost and scared. He leaned forward and handed Fiyero a mug of mead in which to drown his sorrows. Galinda accepted his next draught.

Abruptly, they were jolted from their harrowing reflections by the excited squawk of a Sky Lark. Fiyero leapt to his feet, throwing open the largest window and staring expectantly out as the Bird perched on the sill, his eyes twinkling. "Prince Fiyero!"

"What the hell's happened?" He demanded, his face red, his heart racing.

"Madame Elphaba! She has found Mraic and the manservant in the Corn Exchange." The Sky Lark proclaimed proudly, stretching his wings out and casting an intimidating shadow on the wall opposite.

Galinda tossed her can gladly in the sink. "What do you mean by _found_? And how in Oz did she get this news to you?" She asked, worried Elphaba had given her position away by summoning the Bird.

"She had pinned them to their chairs. They can't even move. You should see how much gleeful fun she is taking out of torturing them."

"Oh for Oz' sake Fiyero get the hell over there before she gouges out their eyes!" Galinda said, but she was joking.

"She knows where the babe is."

Fiyero felt faint but he held his position steadfastly. "Where is he?" His voice was a whisper, his eyes filled with tears.

"In the Mauntery Motherhouse. Being cared for by a blind girl. Mraic hid him there because they'd never know what they had right under their noses."

"He hasn't harmed him? He isn't lying?" Minas asked.

"We don't know." The Sky Lark admitted. "We don't know about Liir. She refused to let either man out of her sight and called for me. But they aren't lying; she had been spying on them."

"She's a smart one." Minas said, even as Fiyero was mounting his stallion and Galinda called down her Bubble from the heavens. Minas would have to ask her how she did that one day. He wondered how much of Elphaba was in its strength.

"I cannot thank you enough. We shall not forget what you've done for us." Fiyero promised, giving the good Bird his honest word and instructing him to fly that moment to Elphaba and announce they were on their way.

"One moment, Prince Fiyero. Lady Galinda!" The Bird called, moments before Galinda took off to her friend's side. She stopped herself and listened. "Madame Elphaba wished for you to see that Liir was alright. She said she would meet you at the Mauntery, and you too, Prince Fiyero. There is no need to go to the Corn Exchange. She is even now making her way to collect him."

Minas stood forward, untying his won horse and saddling himself in safely. "I will go to the Corn Exchange and bring Mraic into SouthStairs. No doubt you want to see your son. So go to him."

Fiyero nodded his silent thanks, unable to speak at that moment. Galinda was already crying, but Fiyero swore to himself that he would not, if only for Elphaba. They said a farewell, knowing they would meet again in a matter of hours and each left to their path. The Sky Lark singing a song of dawning happiness, strangely at odds with the dark of the night, and yet it lifted all their hearts.

Galinda could easily have soared ahead of Fiyero, but she kept a steady pace next to him as he rode fearlessly and with a reckless abandon that Galinda desperately wanted to check. She bit her tongue however, knowing exactly how he felt; both winded and strong. With each gallop, Fiyero found the energy he had lost over the last few days return to him.

It did not take them more than fifteen minutes to reach the back door of the Mauntery. It was a decidedly sad entrance, much less prophetic of its religious purposes than the main entrance, which was carved with the monstrous and ridiculous figures of the Unionist traditions. This door was for practicalities; unwanted daughters would be left here by poor families or disgruntled fathers and food and laundry would be carted in and out several times a day. Now, it was also a place of happiness.

Fiyero was too nervous to move and too scared that now it was too good to be true. He wanted so badly to knock upon the wood, or just to break it down, but his hand refused to comply. Galinda took pity on him and rapped her own knuckles on the cold door.

"Fiyero!"

He turned and Elphaba thrust herself into his arms which splayed apart in surprise at first, before they gripped her tightly. Fiyero let his tears fall when he felt that she was sobbing too. Her body lurched with them. "Elphaba, my girl, you're alright." He breathed in the scent of her; cold and damp, mixed with spice and honey from her toilette. It had been a gift from Galinda. He loved that smell. Elphaba wrapped her right arm around Galinda, and the three held one another to the background music of the Maunts waking to let them in.

"We thought you were already inside!" Galinda whined.

"No, no. I hadn't left yet. I was waiting for some more men to arrive and I didn't want to release Mraic or the manservant from their bonds until I was sure they couldn't escape." Elphaba told them, tucking a stray hair of Galinda's back behind her ear. "You look awful."

"So do you." Galinda replied, frankly. They were all smiling though. Elphaba felt almost full again, her arms fit to bursting with the bodies of her greatest friends, but they ached to wrap around her baby and the welcome from Sister Maid did not come soon enough.

"I can't imagine we kept him all this time and knew nothing of his birthrights." Sister Maid said as she guided them to the room where they had laid him to sleep. She was sleepy and groggy and not amused that she was woken to such far-fetched claims. It had taken the threat of arrest to persuade her to let them in. That, and the fact the Elphaba poked the bald end of her broom up the old woman's neck. She cursed that her son had been left with these unfeeling wenches for even one day.

She gasped, had that been all the time he was missing? It felt like a millennium.

"Here's the boy. You're welcome to take him." She said, as though Liir were a runt that she had accidentally trodden in and brought him here to die.

Fiyero shoved her from the room. "You're damn right we will. Now get out and go to bed. You aren't welcome here now." Sister Maid protested, but weakly and since she did not really care, it took little to get her out of their hair.

Elphaba stared at the little crib. "It's him." She sobbed, and her eyes so overflowed with hot tears that her vision was impaired and she could no longer actually see him. No matter. She felt Fiyero take her hand and walk her closer. He was sound asleep, and the room was surprisingly warm. Thank Oz for small mercies, she thought.

Her hands shook madly as she reached for him and she took three deep and sore breaths: her throat hurt from riding in the cold night air. Before she knew it, he was at her breast. Liir woke and screamed from having been disturbed. It was the greatest sound any of them had ever heard. It was almost as though they were meeting him again for the first time, and all three were reminded of the moment he had taken his first breath and been placed in Elphaba's arms.

He was heavy and wet, she felt. He needed changing and a warm bath. Liir's little hands wound round her hair and Fiyero's fingers. He pulled at her hair and she gave into small wails of relief as he babbled and squirmed and eventually settled in her arms. He quieted and Elphaba turned out of the room. "Let's get the hell out of here." She said, as they returned, radiant with joy, to the Palace.

* * *

><p><em>*Waves banners and dances*<em>


	17. Tender, Loving Care

**_Author's Note: _**_I disclaim._

_Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and keeps reviewing, I'm sure I don't need to tell you again how much I appreciate it. It really motivates me and I know it does the same for other writers, so thanks again. There will probably be another three or four chapters of this before the climax, so here's one of the last . . . at least for now. I may write oneshots or little mini-sequels to this in the future. I can never leave them alone! *wink*_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>They purposefully secreted themselves from friends and public eyes for three weeks after Liir was returned to them. The media circus following Mraic's capture and imprisonment in the damp dungeons of SouthStairs was dramatic and fierce, the press tearing into every facet of his character with visceral attacks on his amorality and psychotic nature. They saw him as a highly intelligent and malevolent figure and many free publications and student periodicals joined in with gleeful cartoons and satiric essays on his unsuccessful attempts to destroy the government.<p>

The Universities began to use him in case examples of psychology and psychiatry. Medical students begged time alone with him to take blood samples and Hospitals and Research Institutions even pleaded to have his body donated to them for experiments once he had been brought to the justice which they assumed would be death. The more desperate schools merely offered high financial 'donations' to the government for Mraic's body. Dead or alive, no matter.

His trial had been scheduled for six months from the moment of arrest. He would be contained in isolation for the entirety of his incarceration until the first day he was to be put before a jury of his peers. They found they were hard pressed to find jurors who did not enter their governmental service without an agenda that condemned Mraic before he had even taken a breath to plead his case. It was hopeless for him, of course. There was no denying what he had done or what his role in the attack and kidnap had been. Not to mention he was standing up against a third charge for breaking his exile from the Emerald City. His defence lawyer told him he had better plead guilty and hope they did not sentence him to death. The prosecution would be using the open and shut case to train many new and young lawyers attempting to make names for themselves. They really could not do any wrong on the stand, and it would give them a profile for future cases.

Sleep was the top of the agenda for Elphaba and Fiyero. They had to wait for Elphaba to be examined by medical staff before being allowed home, and Liir was checked, too. She had set herself back a few days at least by riding so hard on the cold wood of her broom, but there was no serious lapse, and she was given a sleeping draught and ordered to bed. Liir was cold and hungry but calm so long as they did not try to take him from his mother and father. While resting in the arms of one he would look about for the other. He was one month old and oddly aware of what was going on around him. His mother's son, Nanny said.

Elphaba had not been too happy to be separated from Galinda, but she was escorted home by Guirr and was content enough that her friend did not push it further. She figured they would be a stable couple now, and only needed to look at her husband to know how happy Galinda must be when she was alone with Guirr. Even so, she missed her friend those first few nights.

Liir slept on the bed with them, something which they would not have allowed had it been possible for them to make love. Elphaba's stitches having not yet healed meant all Fiyero could do was kiss her and put his arms around her, but it was all he needed. Truth be told, they were far too exhausted. Liir slept on his mother's breast and Elphaba slept with her head in the crook of Fiyero's neck. Warm and safe, they spent the next few days dozing in and out of dreams, waking only to eat and then falling back onto the pillows.

Fiyero did not sleep half so well as Elphaba did, but it did not matter to him. The first hour they were left alone, Elphaba sat breastfeeding Liir against the bedstead and he had never seen her so happy. Of course, he voiced the thought, and Elphaba listed more than a dozen other occasions when she must have looked just as pleased if not more. She was jesting to mask her upset, he knew, but he kept her chatting away gladly for an hour until their lips hurt from smiling and laughing.

Sure enough, Elphaba was grateful for the distraction of idle gossip and the rehashing of old stories that first night. She realised, as she so often did, that her life would mean very little to her without him. It was a thought that came to her every time she held Liir and every time there was even a passing mention of him. The first few mornings Fiyero even brought her breakfast in bed, and she amusingly observed how his efforts seemed to improve each day; the eggs were less burnt and the yoke more solid, the toast was more brown than black and the tea was thicker and more flavoursome. Nevertheless, she rewarded him with a kiss each time and wished she could reward him more.

"You know what they say, the last few days are always the hardest. Especially with you. Have you been etching little hourly marks into a journal or something?" Fiyero quipped with a cheeky and smug little grin one morning. They had finished breakfast and Liir was on his belly, trying and failing to lift himself into a crawl and growing more frustrated with every unsuccessful attempt.

She rolled her eyes and her tea cup clinked on its porcelain saucer as she set it down, slightly miffed. "You would _love_ to think I was pining after you, wouldn't you?"

"Well? Aren't you?"

"I am not about to give you the satisfaction of answering that question either way." She said, avoiding him.

"Never mind. I read you like a book."

"You can't read books." She joked.

"I can read books on female sexual desire and at the moment that's the only one I need." He laughed and feigned insult when she threw a pillow at him. It was a beautiful shot and hit him right between the eyes, much to her delight.

"I just want the damn stitches out!" She lied, although it was not entirely false. "No one ever tells you about _that _disgusting and uncomfortable little section of motherhood." Here she stuck her tongue out at Liir, who cried in annoyance at his incomplete task. Elphaba placed her hands under his arms and lifted him up so he could brace himself. He sat upright for three whole seconds before collapsing in giggles.

"Hey, look at that. I'm so proud of you!" Fiyero said, tossing him in the air. Liir squealed much like Galinda did when she saw a well-stocked shoe shelf, only his was more pleasing to her ear. She leaned back and smiled; she could watch them together all day and not tire of it. Apart from anything else, it made Fiyero seem unutterably attractive to her, more so than usual. It was something she could barely stand.

"You know that today is the two year anniversary of the first time we had sex?" She announced, though not entirely secure in her estimations. It would not matter; Fiyero's best guess would barely be equal to her worst, and it was generally around this time of year.

Fiyero held a red-faced and out of breath Liir to his chest and tickled him as he calmed down. He sat next to her on the bed. "It is?" She nodded, pinching Liir's chin. "I would've said it was the anniversary of the first time we made love, but-"

"Oh come on." She said, raising an eyebrow. "You remember our first time? In that train compartment? You would call it making love?"

"Well it was hardly particularly uh . . . comfortable, I'll admit."

"Uh-huh."

"But I mean would you class it as sex? I mean, we didn't um . . . you know . . ."

"I know, Yero. I was there." He nodded, blushing a shade of red that made her laugh and want to kiss him. "It was sex. There was penetration involved." She said, as though concluding the matter.

He shrugged, but failed to brush off his slight discomfort at her words when he laughed and looked away. "Alright then." She smiled knowingly, which confused him. "Your vulgar little tongue never fails to take me by surprise, Fae." She winked and he kissed her on the mouth. "What's your point, my sweet?"

"I think sometimes we've grown up an awful lot sooner than we should have." She played with the bed spread absent-mindedly. "Sometimes I forget how young we are, Yero."

"Doesn't mean we can't do our job." He reminded her, smiling

"I know. But don't you think it's incredible what's happened to us? We're only twenty-four years old and yet we're married, we have a son and we're at the head of the government. We've resolved one of the major conflicts of our time, at least to a certain extent and we've survived two kidnapping attempts."

Fiyero sighed, feeling suddenly tired now she had pointed it out to him. "It's too early in the morning for this!" He laughed, kissing her sweetly until the housekeeper came to clear away the trays. It was the last time they would see one another that day; Elphaba had a doctors appointment which she hoped would be her last for a while, and Fiyero was off to the Palace again. He had returned to the majority of his work the day before, and Elphaba would accompany him the following week. She fully intended to bring Liir with her, of course.

"Letter for you, Madame." Elphaba thanked the older woman for them and turned them over to reveal the seal of her father.

"From Munchkinland, Yero." She said, not a little surprised. "And two of them."

"Well go on and open them. I'm all ears."

She laughed. "And you assume I will just read out my private correspondence to you?"

He poked his head out from the bathroom, a mouthful of foaming toothpaste and the brush sticking out from between his lips like an oversized pencil. "Yup! And technically it isn't correspondence. When was the last time you wrote to Munchkinland?"

"I wrote to them one day after Liir was born, to tell them Liir was born." She heard him scoff; it had been a sore point for him that her father still had not really acknowledged their son and he was fairly unforgiving of Nessarose in that respect, too. He saw it that she was old enough to make decisions out with the shadow of her domineering father. Elphaba reminded him that while it may have been the case for her, her little sister was nowhere near as single-minded. Fiyero did not believe Nessarose was as incompetent as his wife told him.

Still, it had hurt that they had not even sent a reply. "Well? What do they say?" Fiyero yelled. She heard him gargle and spit and then the rushing sound of the shower. She broke the wax and read the carefully printed words. She _harrumphed _when she saw not a single blot of wayward ink had scarred the fine white paper, and not a line slanted either up or down in the wrong direction. She remembered being rapped painfully on the arm during their father's handwriting lessons. She stretched her fingers in the memory of it; her writing was alright, she supposed.

The first and most brief letter was from her father. Frexspar, she told herself, thinking of Oscar. He thanked her for informing them of Liir's birth but announced that unfortunately he may not visit very soon as he was far too busy with the business of governing Munchkinland.

"He claims he's too busy to visit." She shouted through.

"Busy doing what? Isn't Nessa the governor now?"

"Yes. As soon as she graduated." Elphaba confirmed.

"For Oz' sake. Who the hell does he think he is?" He said, storming from the bathroom, wiping his shaving-foam covered face with a towel, revealing a face almost as smooth as Liir's bottom.

"Fiyero . . ." she tried to placate him.

"No. No, this is damned ridiculous. He spent your entire childhood treating you like something he found on the bottom of his shoe, and then when you prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are the most amazing woman in the world, he still ignores you and pretends that you're the matron of a bloody pub."

At the end of his tirade, he flumped down in a chair and buried his head in his hands. Elphaba smiled and walked over to him, placing Liir in his lap. "Now, now Papa." She teased, lifting his face to hers and kissing him softly. "I think you're more bothered by him than I am."

"I think not." He replied, bouncing Liir up and down as he thumped his tiny hands on his father's shirt. "And what was the other?"

"Hm?" She asked, distracted by her son who was highly amused with his discovery of Fiyero's blue diamond tattoos.

He laughed. "The other letter, dearest. What does it say?" He asked, catching her eye. He loved it so when she was confused, as it happened so rarely. One of his favourite memories of her pregnancy were the times when she was so out of her own wits that she could barely remember either his name or her own. One morning she turned and told him she had forgotten how to boil water. The look on her face was so adorable that he could barely contain himself. The feeling he had now was not dissimilar.

Elphaba's eyes darted left and right as she read what Fiyero had assumed were her sister's words. Truth be told, by the time she reached the end, she looked deathly pale. "I'm alright, Yero." She replied, when he asked after her. "But sweet Oz, you won't believe this."

"Tell me now and I won't have to."

"She's . . . she's engaged."

Fiyero blinked. "She's what?" Elphaba nodded slowly and passed him the paper. It consisted of only one page, and yet it contained such a ridiculous revelation. "Well. Maybe that accounts for Frex being so _busy._"

"To some middling little landowner who had been sniffing at her feet for scraps of attention and power it would seem." She said, as though he had not spoken. Fiyero huffed and Elphaba shook her head. "She can't marry him."

"She says she loves him." He said, in her defence and for reasons he did not really understand.

His wife frowned. "Nessa doesn't love him."

"How in Oz would you know either way?"

She was annoyed at that. "Oh please. I know this man; we have people everywhere who send us weekly reports on the state of affairs in the annexed stated. This Little Lord Landowner has an infamous reputation with women and a ridiculously lax attitude to his duties!"

Fiyero's eyes squinted into mere slits. He wondered if she heard the hypocrisy in her own voice. "Firstly, his name is Rondos Lanns." Elphaba flicked a hand at him and sat playing with Liir. Fiyero would not give up on this, however, and continued. "And secondly I believe your description of your sister's suitor would have very snugly fit myself only a few years ago." She frowned. "And, begging your pardon, _Madame_," he said, making her feel about two inches tall, "but though you may know the man, you don't really know the woman, do you?"

Elphaba sat still, refusing to give into him. Though goodness knows she had done it many times before, and Liir was evidence enough of that. "You have to go to work now." She told him, nodding at the clock. Her voice broke thanks to her anger at him, but she knew it was only passing.

"Oh well, hello denial!" He said, cupping her chin. "Fae . . ."

She made a pouty face at him and he flashed a smile he always used when he was trying to seduce her. "Yero." She sighed. "I just don't want her to get hurt by some flighty guy we've never met."

"What if he makes her as happy as I've – hopefully – made you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course you've made me happy. More than happy. But not every womaniser falls in love and mends his ways." She teased him. "It just seems so out of sorts."

"Why?"

She pursed her lips, and fingered the letter distastefully. "I don't know."

He touched her cheek softly, tucking her hair behind her shoulders. "Is it perhaps just because you don't really know your sister all that well, and you've gotten stuck in the idea of her being a dependent fifteen-year-old?" He explained.

Elphaba could not deny that he was right. She did think of her sister as the young, frail and spoiled child she had grown to love in her own way. She knew Nessarose was a strong and frightening leader, much like herself. Though she was still spoiled in her way. "In my heart I know she would never let a man cow her into submission."

"So what's bothering you, sweetheart?" He asked. Liir had returned to his lessons in 'Crawling 101' and Elphaba picked herself up and sat on his lap, winding her arms around his neck and exchanging wet kisses with him for a moment.

"I fear that as strong as she may be in counsel and in court, she may be equally unschooled in love. She has never, at least as far as I know, loved anyone truly before." She played with his hair, quaffed the way he liked it, a golden brown and soft. "I never really thought she was capable."

"Me neither, but you know she won't listen if you barge in and try to tell her she isn't allowed."

"I wouldn't do that." She insisted.

"What would you do?"

"I just want to make sure she's happy." She said, though he was unconvinced. Her voice was flat and uninterested. He played with a button on her dress until it popped and slid his hand inside, tickling her skin there softly. "She never loved me." He heard her whisper into his ear, breathless. He felt bad when her legs parted slightly at the slightest touch from him and her eyes closed. She wore a small smile.

"I love you." He said and fingered the waistband of her slip.

"What are you doing?" She moaned, but gripped his neck when he kissed her. "Fiyero . . ." She whispered and whimpered but he did not know if she meant him to stop. He only knew that he could not finish, so he just kissed her as passionately as he could – whilst in the company of their son.

"I hate it when you do that." She hissed, her cheeks beautifully flushed and her heart racing under his touch.

"Why?"

"Because it makes me feel like agreeing to anything." She admitted, flicking his lips with her tongue.

"You little temptress."

"You . . . will be late." She said, turning his face with his hand towards the clock, which showed his imminent tardiness. He stood and unhappily rushed around the room.

As he left, he stayed at the door for a moment, leaning round to catch her eye. "And you know, even if you were the matron of a pub," he said, alluding to her father, "you'd be the best and most irresistible matron in the world." He winked and she cackled after him.

"Your father is a bloody loon." She told her son, and Liir giggled, too, though she supposed it was to bring her attention to his toys that sat in the corner.

* * *

><p><em>Aw, bless them. WTF Nessa?<em>


	18. You and Me

**_Author's Note: _**_I disclaim._

_"Well, this has been fun!"_

_Many many thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story and to everyone who has stuck with it despite my horrific lack of regular updates. This is in fact the final chapter! I'll miss them far too much and so I may post one-shots which follow from this story but I will mark them clearly so you can find them - assuming you want to read it!_

_I love this chapter quite a lot and I hope you do, too. Thank you again, and please let me know your final thoughts!  
><em>

* * *

><p>Fiyero scooted across the padded seat to his wife and shifted her so she leaned into his arms. He closed them around her and kissed her. "I rather like this." He said, as she let her head rest on his chest. "Fae?"<p>

"I know you do." She sighed, and brushed her fingers lightly up his forearms. She felt him shift behind her, waiting. "And you know I do, too." He relaxed and she smiled out at the window again as the countryside flew past them so quickly she could not focus on one hill or another. Her head flopped over and opposite her and Fiyero sat Galinda, bouncing Liir on her knee and dangling keys just out of his reach. "How cruel, Galinda." She said, watching Liir grab and miss several times over.

Galinda sighed. "Elphie! It's just a game." She whined, and shook them so the light danced all over the carriage. They were shooting their way towards Munchkinland for the all-too-hasty marriage of Nessarose Thropp, which Elphaba still foolishly hoped to prevent. Galinda was sulking at the timing of the trip; she and Guirr had begin to live together, but he had to remain in the Emerald City to conduct his own business and just when she was sure he was going to propose to her. "Now tell me again about this uh . . . marriage." Galinda said carefully.

"Galinda, now why would you mention a subject like that?" Fiyero complained, feeling Elphaba tense and knowing her face had fallen. He was enjoying holding her, he was thinking of moving his hand strategically over her breast, and now he could tell she would push him away.

"Because it's important?" The blonde replied, raising an eyebrow at him as if he were an utter moron. "And you delayed my engagement."

"It's unnecessary." He hissed. "And that was inadvertent."

"Delayed nonetheless." Galinda commented.

Elphaba rolled her eyebrows at the scenery and casually lifted one of Fiyero's fingers to brush her nipple. "Go on." Fiyero said, happily.

"Galinda, if I knew what mindless drivel was surging through my sister's head I would have put it in a letter and left it at that. As it is she remains a mystery to me. Maybe Frexspar is flitting too much around her and she sees this as an escape?" She asked, frowning at her friends.

"Nessa hardly needs a husband to find some independence." Fiyero kissed her hair and pulled down the zip of her dress where it sat at her side. He praised Lurline that his babbling son kept Galinda occupied.

Elphaba bit her lip at the sensation of his fingers on her skin and snuggled him closer. "Then I have no idea."

"Or maybe," Galinda began, "Maybe she is in love." She smiled at Liir, who was kicking and thrashing and giggling at his Aunt, but Elphaba did not find what she said at all funny. "Oh come on, Elphaba, you're looking at me as if that would be the worst thing in the world."

Elphaba did not answer her. She disliked the idea and shoved it away. Galinda stared at Fiyero, who told her with a shake of his head that it would be better if she dropped the idea altogether. Galinda shrugged and laughed with Liir again, pointedly ignoring the fact that Fiyero's hand was buried in Elphaba's dress.

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><p>Later, they arrived at Munchkinland and were put up at the Emerald City Embassy Inn, where Elphaba had insisted on staying instead of at Colwen Grounds, lest she be forced to be in the same house as her father and her husband for longer than was absolutely necessary. Galinda graciously offered to sleep with Liir in his cradle next to her bed, as she sight of Fiyero fondling his wife for the large part of their journey told her they might want to be alone. She knew, as Elphaba's glowing face had told her, that she was able to have sex again for the first time following her son's birth. Apparently, there had been no one else in the house for her to tell when the doctor left so she telephoned her friend. They had left not long after for Munchkinland, and as Fiyero and Elphaba were discovering, the ability and desire to make love did not always equal the fact of doing so when there is a two month old baby to parent.<p>

However, they were alone that first night in Elphaba's hometown and as soon as she had ascertained that Galinda really did not mind babysitting, she bolted the door, drew the curtains and, much to Fiyero's surprise and delight, simply dropped her clothes to the floor and removed his just as passionately. It was quick and rough and wonderful, and in the early morning when she woke, they made love again, this time softly and gently. She let Fiyero trace faint lines all over her body and cover them with kisses. He brought her to climax and then again when he was inside her. They remained entwined, sweat, juices and the smell of sex pervading all around them until the bell rang for breakfast and Fiyero washed her clean himself.

"Ah!" She yelped when he pressed a hot cloth to her thighs. "Yero." She whispered, leaning forward to kiss him. "That was too hot." He winked at her and she grinned.

"Didn't hear you complaining last night. Or this morning." He said in a low voice, squeezing the soaked cloth over her legs so hot drops of water ran down them, leaving trails of steam rising up around them. She threw her arms around his neck, pressing them together. Fiyero cupped the sticky mess between her legs and made her gasp from the pain of the heat on sensitive skin. She bit his lip. "Ow."

"Ha." She moaned, from the back of her throat. "Serves you right."

He touched their lips together, and she smiled. "I love you, sweetheart." He ran the cloth along her stomach and slowly up her back and she closed her eyes, whispering that she loved him, too. "We should get dressed, Fae."

"I have no inclination to get dressed." She said, leaning on his shoulder. She was cold, standing naked in their room, but he was warm. "I want to spend all day in here, just you and me."

"You and me, huh?" He repeated, taking her hand and dancing with her a little. He was rewarded when she giggled and blushed. "That sounds far too good to be true."

"It is." She said, sadly.

"Hello?" A hand rapped at their door. "Say hello Liir! Hello? Mama? Papa? Aunt Galinda is wondering how long you're going to be in there!"

Elphaba made a face at Fiyero and wrapped herself in her nightgown. "Alright. Mama's coming." She called to the door, tossing Fiyero a shirt and pants and throwing him into the bathroom. She opened the door and gasped at Liir dramatically, making him wriggle and stretch out towards her. "Good morning my love!"

"I hope you're talking to me." Fiyero shouted, his voice echoing from the shower.

"Elphie! You're not even washed!" Galinda moaned.

"Yes I am." She said.

Galinda eyed her as she rifled through her suitcases for one of Elphaba's dresses and she heard Fiyero laugh far too heartily for the early morning. "Do I want to know what you mean by that?"

"No."

"Okay." She shrugged.

"Hey! There's my boy!" Fiyero said when he came through again, fully dressed.

Galinda smiled. "Oh, you look very nice Fiyero!"

"I am insulted by the tone of surprise in your voice Glinny."

"Glinny?" Elphaba raised an eyebrow. She stepped into the bathroom and slipped on the dress Galinda had given her. "I think I might take to that."

"I think it's cute." Fiyero joked, nudging Galinda. She huffed at him at set about fixing his tie. They laughed at Liir crawling along the floor to Elphaba. "Don't you Liir? Hey, crawl along the floor to Mama if you think that's what we should all call Aunt Galinda."

"It doesn't even make any sense! My name is Gah-lin-dah!" She stamped her foot and puffed up her lips, her voice so high-pitched she was almost inaudible.

"That is what's so delicious about it!" Fiyero tittered. "Glinny. Glinny-dinny."

You know," Elphaba said, walking out of the bathroom in a long chiffon-covered silk and satin black dress with long skirts that swished and swayed when she walked, "The only person who ever disregarded the gah in your oh-so-beautiful name," she said, pinching Galinda's tinted cheeks, "was our very own Doctor Dillamond." She placed Liir down on the bed and unbuttoned his sleeping gown, but she did not tickle him the way he loved.

"We never found him, Elphie." Galinda muttered, shuffling her feet, unsure of where to look and settling for Fiyero's tie. "We couldn't trace him anywhere."

She tugged at Liir's clean nappy and secured it. He girned, but she ignored it and buttoned him into his romper suit. She was frowning, even as she placed a hat on her son's head and lifted him into her arms. "I don't know. I have unlimited access to every file that ever had anything to do with the camps and the exterminations and yet I still don't know."

Liir pawed at her face. "Fae, don't frown at him, he won't know you're not mad at him." She rolled her eyes and kissed Liir on the nose. "There, was that so hard?" He laughed. "Fae, we might never know." He reminded her.

She nodded. "It's not fair."

"Life's not fair." Galinda said. Elphaba and Fiyero both stared at her; open-mouthed. "What?"

"Galinda, you are the last person I would ever expect to admit that life is not fair, Miss Upland of the Arduennas." Fiyero teased, bouncing Liir on his arm. Elphaba chuckled.

"Respect, please? I went to those camps, too."

"You did. We're sorry." Elphaba said, sincerely.

Galinda watched her and saw a twinkle in her eye. "You're sorry for nothing!" Elphaba cackled. Galinda grumbled and muttered all the way to breakfast and to the carriage that would take them to Colwen Grounds.

* * *

><p>By the time they arrived at Colwen Grounds it was close to lunchtime and Elphaba had to settle for feeding Liir as soon as they had alighted and been let in to sit in the drawing room. Elphaba would have asked for a private room, as she thoroughly disliked to have anyone other than Fiyero with her when she breastfed, but there were no other souls in the building it seemed and she did not mind having Galinda with her. Nessarose had not even stayed longer than two minutes, and after she said her hellos she made some rather pathetic excuse and dismissed herself to the business from which they had so rudely disturbed her.<p>

The servants let them be, and Fiyero was angry at the absence of not only Nessarose but her betrothed and Frexspar. "It is nothing to do with our position as the bloody government, although that in itself is disgraceful enough, but they're _family _for goodness' sake."

Galinda sighed. "Don't swear in front of Liir."

"That's not swearing." Fiyero said.

"It is!" Galinda insisted.

"It's not important." Elphaba said gently, patting Liir's back as he wriggled on her lap happily. "I am insulted, though. She is humiliating us. She wants to be powerful and more so than the governing body. She hates being ruled by anyone. That innocent little exterior I grew up with and cared for every bloody day is no more."

"Now that _is _swearing." Fiyero said, making Galinda smile and Elphaba shake her head. "Fae, we can leave." He reminded her.

"No, we cannot. I may not stay for long, but if she is getting married I will be there to witness it."

"Oh my goodness." Galinda gasped, staring past Elphaba and Fiyero to the door that led to the Governor's office. "Boq." She said, as though she were afraid to mutter it.

"Hello there. It's been a long time." He said, his voice only differing from when they knew him at Shiz by the slightly more manly timbre that it contained. "Fiyero," he nodded at him and shook his hand as his friend stood to greet him.

Galinda smiled, almost sadly, not having realised how long it had been since they had seen one another. "I guess our autumn meeting plans did not quite pan out as I had hoped. You have been an well-trusted contact, though. We've missed you." She said sincerely, and received a hug from him.

Boq then shook Elphaba's hand and pressed Liir's hand in hello. "It's never too late to start them up again. I'm leaving Munchkinland soon. At least the service of Nessarose." He said, relieved.

"If you don't mind my saying Boq, you look awfully glad about that. I imagine Nessa knows." Boq nodded. "How did you manage it?" He asked.

"Boq, for Oz' sake if you were stuck here you should have told us!" Elphaba said.

"I was stuck here as much as any man with too small a savings account to move any further than his homeland." He told them, pouring tea. He was dressed in a suit, not the garb of a servant which made Elphaba feel more at ease. "I returned to my family and worked as a clerk here. She paid me well though I had to maintain a charade of romantic interest which she herself grew out of before it was necessary for me to put an end to it myself."

Elphaba leaned back, using Fiyero's body in between her and Boq to hide her naked breast as she closed her slip and the front of her dress again. "I had wondered if you might have something to do with this marriage."

"No more than little Liir or yourself, Elphaba." He replied. "I didn't even pass notes or calling cards between them. My business was to do with the agriculture of Munchkinland, and as of next week my business will be the agriculture of Shiz."

"You'll be in Shiz?" Galinda asked.

"Yes, and glad of it." He confirmed. "Elphaba, I know you love a conspiracy, but there is really not much to it. They met first at a council gathering and he courted her quite legally and fairly romantically I'm told. They are in love as much as any power couple."

That did nothing to comfort Elphaba, but she accepted it from Boq and told him he would join them for lunch with Nessarose and her betrothed, Rondos Lann. He put his hands and stood, taking his leave and refusing steadfastly to spend any more time in her presence than was necessary. He kissed them all and said goodbye, promising to visit them once they had returned and he was settled.

At the lunch table, after introductions were made that gave them even less information about the couple than they had prior to the meeting, there fell an oppressive and awkward silence that even Galinda's happy social manners and Fiyero's ease could not fill. Liir slept quietly in a cradle by his father, for which Elphaba was very grateful. They only conversation between her and her sister concerned the absence of their father, who was tending to the tenants board of farming that day.

"I wonder you did not schedule our visit for a day when we would not prove such an imposition." Elphaba said, coldly, looking at Nessarose who fired back with her won icy stare. Each girl wondered how the other's partner could stand them.

"Sorry." Nessa said, though it was clear she was anything but. They continued to eat in silence.

By the look of him, Rondos Lann looked like he had a fierce backbone and his voice was hard and schooled. He had been privately educated but had attended Shiz and graduated the year before Nessarose. He was polite but curt and displeased with them. Elphaba could have cared less. They were to be married in the civil offices of Munchkinland in two days. Elphaba could not maintain her dislike of Nessarose, she was her little sister, no matter what. Of course, as a grown woman she would do what she liked with her personal life and Elphaba knew she had little right to any knowledge of Nessa as a woman, but still she would try.

Galinda smiled encouragingly when Elphaba cleared her throat and asked Nessarose if she planned a reception. "It would be nice to spend the evening with your friends. I feel like I don't know you well." She said, laughing a little.

"Why would you?" Nessa replied, quietly, staring at her food. "We had not planned anything like that. Truth be told, I found your wedding to be frivolous and wasteful and I was bored. I'm hardly going to plan such a distasteful evening for myself."

"Nessa." Fiyero said in a warning tone. "What's the matter with you?" Elphaba shot him a look but he ignored her. "That was uncalled for. I remember you having a wonderful time at our wedding." Fiyero said.

"I was younger." Nessa said.

"It was only just five months ago, Nessa." Galinda told her, smirking.

"Sorry." She said, again, and there was a hint of meaning. "I just don't like parties."

"Neither do I." Elphaba said, smiling.

Fiyero smirked. "Like sister, like sister."

"Nessarose, you're still my sister. I don't have any other little sister. I didn't have a wedding because I like showing off, but I wanted to acknowledge my marriage and I didn't want to hide away from everyone. We're both public figures. Hiding isn't something we can really do." She said, laying down her fork. "You don't need a huge one. That was technically Fiyero's parent's idea." He rolled his eyes. "I just meant it would be nice to spend the evening in celebration of your marriage." She said. To her alarm, she saw a look exchanged between her sister and Rondos that frightened her.

"Nessarose and I don't like parties." Rondos grumbled.

"Nessarose can speak for herself." Elphaba retorted.

"It wouldn't be a party, really, Rondos. Just us and a few of our friends." He shrugged. "He definitely doesn't like parties." Nessa smiled at her sister, which reassured her. Nothing about this man was vaguely threatening and when she saw him shake his head he had a faint trace of a smile on his lips.

"I suppose that would be fine." He said, looking up at Elphaba for the first time.

* * *

><p>The wedding was a bare and quick and the room in which it was held was almost invisible it was so boring, according to Galinda. Elphaba, however, saw the beauty of it. There was no one there who was not absolutely required to witness or who was not blood-related to either the bride or the groom. Except Galinda of course.<p>

"Don't pretend I don't know you don't wish this had been our wedding." Fiyero whispered in her ear.

She frowned at him. "What?"

"You wish this was our wedding, he repeated, planting a peck on her ear when he finished.

"Shush." She said, effectively confirming what he said. He nodded and wrapped an arm around her waist. Elphaba cooed at Liir until he lay quietly snoozing in her arms in a white shawl that his Aunt Nessa had made. She smiled at them before she turned to face a pale Rondos. He was nervous and shaking, but his grey eyes were only for Nessa and it made Elphaba's heart dance. Their marriage was short and sweet and private. Elphaba sighed in jealousy and kissed her sister, her new brother and smiled at Frexspar.

"May I?" Frexspar said to his eldest daughter, holding out his arms. Elphaba frowned and stood like a statue before him. "May I not hold my grandson? He is asleep, after all." He pointed out, a hint of a smile on his face which Elphaba did not really recognise.

"Of course, here." Elphaba heard Fiyero say, and felt him lift Liir from her arms. Frexspar cradled Liir carefully and laughed.

"He looks very much like you, Fiyero, but he has Melena's complexion." He commented, shifting the shawl a little so he could see Liir's face. His tiny chest rose and fell as he breathed and his cheeks were pink like his lips. He had grown a thick mane of hair that was wavy and black like Elphaba's and on one side had stuck partly to his face from the sweat of sleep. "May I?" He said, turning to two older men behind him, one was the priest who had performed the marriage and the other his deacon, who was slightly younger but grey-haired.

Elphaba smiled and nodded. Fiyero took her hand and kissed her forehead. "Well isn't that nice? He wants to show him off." Her husband was right, too. Frexspar shifted Liir in his arms so the priest could admire him, and they seemed to be gesturing to Elphaba and Fiyero as comparisons.

"Well, I'll be damned." Elphaba said.

Within an hour they were mingling over the best food Galinda said she had ever tasted, only excepting that which had been served at Fiyero and Elphaba's wedding and one birthday cake that Elphaba had once made her. They had adjourned to Colwen Grounds and were under the strict Munchkinlander etiquette that a wedding party would not last beyond nine o'clock. Elphaba laughed and told Nessarose she promised to leave at six o'clock so Liir might sleep for as long as possible and in his own cradle they had brought with them.

Later, and not long before they were meant to leave, Elphaba found Rondos outside, basking in the wonderfully warm evening sun that covered the back marshes of the house. He sat on the patio with a glass of wine and she joined him, under the pretence of thanking him for the wedding and for suffering the presence of twenty guests for so long.

He worried his hands together. "I don't dislike people you know." He told her, avoiding her face altogether. It would have offended her had she not known how painfully shy he was.

"Oh I know. I promise you. Galinda and Fiyero used to have to get me hideously drunk just so I would show my face at a social function of some kind. I hate parties. I would rather be at home with my husband."

"I would rather be at home with my wife."

"You _are_ at home with your wife." She nudged him. She was enjoying this; it was almost like looking at herself from a few years ago. "You're just newlywed. People will be calling on you for a while. Fiyero and I are only five months married and I throw away dozens of calling cards every day."

"Married with a two month old baby boy." He said, sipping his wine and breathing in the heavy heat.

"Yes, and very proud of him, too." She said, her hairs bristling.

"I didn't mean that as an insult!" He said, panicking and startling her by looking at her for the first time that day. "I meant to point out how blessed you are."

"You have a strange view of my sister's faith."

"I have a tolerant view of your sister's faith." Elphaba laughed and he joined her. "When she's at church, she's my wife. When she's at home, she's my Nessa."

"How sweet." She said. "Here's to you and she." She offered her glass and they toasted the new couple. They sat in silence for a moment, then Elphaba sighed and turned to Rondos. "You know, I think we're all going to be happy."

Rondos considered her for a moment. "Only happy?"

She shrugged. "All things taken into account, it's all we can hope for. If it turns out worse it won't be too much of a surprise." She cackled and heard Liir giggle inside. "But you know, if it turns out better it will be the greatest thing in the world."

Rondos nodded and they returned to their guests then, him to his smiling bride, and Elphaba to Fiyero.

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><p><em>THE END.<em>


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